Sora and Kairi's Wedding: A Kingdom Hearts Alternate Future
by Destiny's Force
Summary: A Kingdom Hearts Alternate Future where Kairi and Namine must not only get married to Sora and Roxas, but they must deal with some party-crashers by themselves. This story began September 30, 2007 before KH 358/2 was announced and finished March 23, 2013. Originally published for the KH-Vids forum under "Destiny's Force" and DeviantArt under "x-Destinys-Force-x".
1. Sora and Kairi's Wedding

_Originally published September 30. 2007._

It was months ago that Kairi had first shown the bottled letter to Sora and Riku. The letter stated that being a "Princess of Heart" from Radiant Garden, Kairi had no choice but to return to her homeworld. Kairi's worried expression grew deeper as they read further. In order to become the rightful ruler, she was required to (Riku smirked at this line) be married on her 16th birthday. Clueless as ever, Sora didn't understand anything except that Kairi had to go to Radiant Garden.

"Don't you get it, Sora?" Riku asked a few hours later as they relaxed on the horizontal palm tree. "She has to get married or else she'll forfeit her right to rule Radiant Garden." Sora sucked thoughtfully on his sea-salt ice cream bar. While they had been gone, Destiny Islands managed to start receiving shipments of sea-salt ice cream.

"But don't you think it's too soon? I mean, we're finally together again after two years and we haven't even gone out on a real date yet!" Riku let out a short laugh.

"Just be glad that she actually gets to choose who she marries."

Sora winced as the alternative scenario played through his mind. "Right, Kairi could've been forced to marry Cloud."

"And you're saying like that's a bad thing?" Kairi teased as she unexpectedly appeared behind them. "I don't know, Sora. The way his hair is spikier than yours can intrigue a girl's interest." Sora stammered for a response, but Kairi only giggled at the fact that she had just made Sora jealous.

They spent the first few months looking for a loophole, anything that would save Kairi from being mandatory ruler at 16 years old. With the limited time they had before the date of the wedding, they couldn't ask many of their friends for help. In short, they were royally screwed. And now after months of preparation, after weeks of teaching Kairi how to properly wield a Keyblade, the biggest day in the history of the kingdom was upon them. The biggest day for both Sora and Kairi.

Thanks to a combination of Cid's Gummi ship experience and Merlin's magic, Sora, Kairi and Riku's friends had left their worlds to attend the wedding. From Tarzan to Hercules and Ariel to Mulan, they all showed up carrying thin, oblong packages along with wrapped wedding gifts. Goofy was in charge of security, so nothing would get past him...

Yeah, right.

Of course, Riku was Best Man. Donald was Ring Bearer. Selphie was there as Maid of Honor and Aerith was Flower Girl, naturally.

And as Master of Ceremonies, who else could be better for the part but King Mickey?

The wedding march began to play and Sora stiffly stood in the suit Tidus lent him, desperately trying not to summon his Keyblade from pure adrenaline rush.

Aerith and Donald walked up the carpet; a mismatched pair, but a good one. Then a silence hushed over the crowd as they waited in suspenseful anticipation. Would the Princess actually go through with this?

The answer came as Princess Kairi, the beautiful bride in her long, flowing white gown was led by the crook of her arm by Riku. Sora's jaw dropped at the sight of his betrothed as Kairi came up the aisle, her veil barely concealing a shy smile.

The place was set. The bride and groom were present. Time to begin.

"Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to join..." As the King went through the usual ceremonial speech, Sora and Kairi eyed each other with uncertainty.

Kairi felt slightly light-headed. _"This is all happening too fast! We haven't even done anything as a couple yet! Oh my god, my heart's pounding! I can't believe this is happening! I'm getting married! I'm not even an adult yet! Why me?!"_

_"Calm down, girl,"_ Namine's voice whispered in a corner of her mind. _"Just believe in yourself and you'll be fine."_

_"Easy for you to say,"_ Kairi replied back. _"You're not the one standing here."_

Sora was having similar thoughts. _"I love Kairi and all, but this is ridiculous! We're just teenagers! We shouldn't have to deal with this! But if this is for the sake of the worlds, we're going to have to let it play through._"

_"Hey, you think you have it tough?"_ Roxas' voice echoed in his head. _"I'm getting married to Namine! And I haven't seen her since we got to Destiny Islands!"_

Riku stood slightly behind Sora, smirking. _"Man, those two look like they're about to fall apart. I'm glad it's not me up there right now."_

"Do you, Sora," Mickey continued shaking Sora out of his thoughts, "take Princess Kairi to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health; so long as you both shall live?"

Sora looked at Kairi giving her a nervous smile. "I-I-I do," he stammered.

"And do you, Princess Kairi, take Sora to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health; so long as you both shall live?"

Kairi looked at Sora with shaken confidence in her face. Her lips parted as she started to say the two words that would finally join them in holy matrimony.

"I..."

**KABOOM!** The ground burst wide open like an exposed scab of the earth and darkness seeped through the room, filling the entire wedding hall with corridors of darkness. Black and white entities appeared out of thin air, waving their appendages like insecticidal pests.

"Where'd all these Heartless and Nobodies come from?!" Riku yelled. As if they were expecting this fight, the wedding guests drew their weapons from their hiding places, preparing themselves for battle.

"Uh, Goofy?" Donald began. "I thought you were in charge of security."

"Yup!" Goofy thrust his chest out proudly. "I'm Captain of the Royal Knights!"

"Then how did all the wedding guests bring their weapons inside with them?"

Goofy shrugged. "Gawrsh, I dunno. All of 'em were carrying long, thin boxes for the weddin'. I thought they were the presents."

Donald crossed his arms and started tapping his webbed foot impatiently. "Were they wrapped?"

"Hmm..." Goofy took off his helmet and scratched his head. "Now that you mention it, I don't believe so." Donald smacked his forehead in disbelief.

All of Sora's friends that had ever fought alongside him charged at the rapidly increasing number of uninvited wedding guests. Despite the good guys' combined power, the Heartless and Nobodies managed to summon their giant allies to the field.

"Darksides and Twilight Thorns?" Riku cried. "There's going to be no end to this!"

"Together we can take them," Sora said in his usual confident show of bravado. Riku just smiled. Shafts of light burst out of their hands as they summoned their Keyblades for battle. But before Sora and Riku could make a move, a pink and white blur zipped past them. Kairi's Keyblade was already halfway in making contact with a Shadow Heartless as she soared through the sky.

"How dare you ruin my wedding! You foul, loathsome..."

Sora and Riku stood frozen in place. Neither of them had seen Kairi lose it before. But there she was, her red hair flowing against her white wedding gown, screaming like an amazon. Her Keyblade hacked and slashed through Heartless and Nobodies alike.

"This was supposed to be the happiest..." she grunted as she delivered bone-crunching blows with each word, "day...of...my...life!"

The boys could only continue to stare in stunned disbelief. "Hey, Riku? You think we should help her?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "She's your wife-to-be. You tell me."

Sora shrugged. "I guess the wedding's off then, huh?" And with that, Sora and Riku ran into the fray.

With the wedding ruined (much to the relief of both bride and groom), and Princess Kairi owning the enemy with her Keyblade, the prologue of Kingdom Hearts III begins...


	2. Another Side, Kairi's Story

"I can't move in this stupid dress!" Kairi cried in frustration. Trying to fight in a wedding dress was like fighting in waist-high snow. Even after ditching the wedding train, her usual feline-like agility was virtually negated. Sure, she could move quickly over short distances. But when it came to moving from one enemy to another, she might as well have been wearing a suit of armor.

And that wasn't the worst part. If she jumped too high over the battlefield, she might expose her...Kairi shuddered with embarrassment at the thought. There was only one thing to do. She looked around for the two people who could help her.

"Selphie! Olette!" Selphie was busy guarding Olette with her nunchaku. Kairi cleared a pathway through the hoard of Heartless surrounding them.

"Kairi!" Selphie looked a little flushed, but still had a lot of fight left in her. "We were wondering where you ran off to!"

Kairi, Olette and Selphie made their way to a temporary safe spot behind a pillar. Kairi had no time to lose. "I need you guys to do a favor for me."

"Of course!" Selphie said cheerfully. "Name it!" Kairi took a deep breath.

"I need you to strip me."

Olette's mouth gaped open. "Are you serious?! Out in the open?"

Kairi blushed slightly as Selphie answered the question. "Well, Kairi still had second thoughts about the whole marriage thing, so..."

"...I wore my traveling clothes underneath," Kairi finished.

"You what?" Olette made a face. "Isn't that a little...unbearable?"

"Hey, this wedding dress is like a corset, okay?" Kairi fidgeted a bit, obviously uncomfortable. "It's hard to breathe in this thing and it itches like crazy!"

_"Not to mention it makes your butt look big,"_ Naminé quipped in the back of her mind.

_"This from a girl who doesn't even wear a bra,"_ Kairi playfully shot back.

Naminé giggled. _"Look who's talking."_

Instead of responding with a snappy comeback, Kairi turned to Selphie. "Can I borrow your boots, please? It's hard to move around in these heels." Selphie grinned. She lifted up the hem of her bridesmaid dress to reveal a familiar pair of white laced boots.

"Good thing we're the same shoe size," Selphie said.

Olette shook her head with amusement. "One of these days, you have got to show me where you buy your outfits."

"Believe it or not, I made the outfit myself," Kairi said while unlacing her front. "You know, something cute, fashionable and easy to move around in."

"Not only that, but it seems to attract a lot of guys' attention as well," Selphie added.

Taking off the dress was a lot easier than expected. After Kairi put the boots on, she swung her Keyblade out with great vigor. "Alright! Now let's..."

**KACHAKAROOOOM!** The girls were knocked off balance as a pillar of earth erupted from beneath them, scattering them in different directions.

Kairi struggled to get back on her feet, but the G-force wouldn't even allow her to lift her head. She could only lie helplessly as the earth beneath her body forced its way into the sky. The cries of battle diminished as if someone were quickly turning down the volume knob. When she finally felt the ground coming to a complete stop, the Princess of Heart propped herself up with the Keyblade. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. Kairi was stunned as the area around her finally came back into focus.

It was like Destiny Islands being destroyed all over again. The skies were tinted with a purple hue, debris being whipped around the earthen platform. She remembered that Sora had been in this exact situation a few years ago. She staggered toward the edge of earth and couldn't believe her eyes. She was miles above Radiant Garden. The only hint of battle was random flashes of multi-colored light in the distance.

"No..." She didn't think there was any way for her to get down from there. She couldn't glide like Sora or survive a 100-story freefall like Riku. Something in the back of her memory was nagging at her. There was something about this situation that Sora told her to keep an eye out for. In a corner of her heart, Kairi could feel that Naminé was worried too. It took her a few seconds to realize she wasn't on this forsaken rock alone. She slowly turned her gaze over her shoulder.

"No...way," she whispered. The dark being with spindlish legs. A heart-shaped hole through its torso. Tendrils masking its true face.

A Darkside.

* * *

"No! Kairi!" Sora and Riku could only watch helplessly as Kairi's form sped out of view. Nobodies and Heartless seemed relentlessly infinite, but the two Keyblade wielders were able to get a quick interlude from the fighting. Even though Sora was resting, his heart rate was still pumping from adrenaline. All he could think about at the moment was how to rescue Kairi. His eyes zipped back and forth across the battlefield for an ally that could help him. Tarzan was out of the question. Same with Aladdin, Hercules, both Jacks or the King. He had no idea where the Flying Carpet was. Then a flash from his chain of memories sparkled in his mind. There was only one ally that could fly. "Peter Pan," he realized.

Sora started forward, but Riku stopped him. "Sora, wait a minute."

"What are you talking about, Riku?" Sora couldn't believe Riku's hesitation. "Kairi needs our help!"

Riku gave him a stern look. "There's something that you should know. She wanted to tell you, but she never found the right time to do it."

The tone in Riku's voice had Sora's complete attention. They sat down against one of the many round pillars of the building.

"When she was kidnapped by Saix," Riku began, "she wouldn't stop crying. She knew you would do anything to find her, even if it meant walking right into the Organization's trap. But when I gave her that Keyblade, she was able to hold her own. As much as you were fighting for her, she was fighting for you as well.

Sora was about to say something, but decided against it. Riku continued.

"After the King, Donald and Goofy went back to their world, she made me promise to tell you..." Riku hesitated, knowing that what he was about to say could never be taken back. "She said that if she ever had to fight alone, don't go after her."

Sora looked at Riku, stunned. "But why? She..."

Riku shook his head. "She's a whole lot stronger than you give her credit for, Sora."

"But..."

Riku held up his hand to silence him. "Why do you think she was training with us all those months? So she would have to be rescued again?"

Sora turned away from Riku, absorbed in this new information. Kairi was the best thing that ever happened to him. He remembered how much his heart ached to be with her throughout his quests. He remembered the times that he fought to find her, to protect her at all costs. _"Kairi, I've looked everywhere for you..."_

But then he remembered. In order to wield a Keyblade, one's heart had to be strong enough to use it. The fact that Kairi was able to wield one at all proved that she was far from being a damsel in distress. _"After all,"_ Sora realized, "_she grew up with a bunch of warriors as friends, right? Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, me and Riku; we're all fighters. Okay, the other three haven't gone into any final fantasies of their own, but they can still fight. Not only that..."_

Sora turned back to Riku and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I keep forgetting that our hearts are connected. Her strength is combined with yours and mine."

"Exactly." Riku looked pleased that Sora finally understood something important he said the first time around. "Well, enough of this then. We're going to need to help the friends with us right now before we can help the ones that are out of reach."

Sora and Riku stood up, limbering themselves up before diving back into the fray. "You know," Sora said as he worked out a crick in his back. "I think one of us should've at least taught her how to Trinity Limit."

"My thoughts exactly," Riku replied. "Which is why I taught her some abilities that she might need just in case."

Sora looked at Riku with a dumbfounded expression. "Do you like, plan for all of this or something?"

Riku grinned. "I'm not a total sap like you, remember?"


	3. Kairi vs Darkside

Kairi charged at the great beast, slide-dashed underneath the creature's legs and swung the Keyblade for all its worth. She might as well have been swinging at shadow. Despite their look of solidity, the legs were as illusory as the darkness itself. Darkside raised its giant fist and swung with the force of a sledgehammer. Kairi stumbled backward as the beast's hand plunged into the ground. Pools of darkness began to ripple beneath her feet. She ran a short distance away from the creature to catch her breath.

Kairi started cursing herself. "That's great. I'm starting to become as hopelessly reckless as Sora."

_"Well, his heart is a part of yours after all,_" Naminé said.

Kairi's eyes narrowed as she concentrated on Darkside. "Alright, what did Sora say about fighting this thing again?"

While she was contemplating, Shadows started to materialize out of the darkness. "More Heartless?!" Kairi readied her Keyblade. "Now I'm sorry that I made fun of Sora about having problems with these things."

_"Kairi,"_ Naminé said, _"I've been digging around in Sora's chain of memories and it says that the upper half of Darkside is the most vulnerable to attack."_

Kairi froze for a moment. "Wait, you still have a connection with Sora's memories?"

_"Only up to the point when you and I merged together. Everything afterwards is all his."_

"Upper half, huh?" Kairi muttered. She ran forward, her hands gripped tightly around the handle of her weapon. The Shadows sensed her presence and leapt with mindless abandon. All they cared about was the fresh heart pulsating within their vicinity. They had no concern with the piece of metal that she was wielding until the Keyblade ripped through their bodies.

Finally seeing her as a potential threat, Darkside plunged its other fist into the ever-expanding pool of darkness. As Kairi got nearer, it removed its hands from the ground, pulling out an orb of dark sparking energy that pulsated with a sinister aura.

"Its upper half's out of reach!" Kairi yelled in frustration. The creature threw its creation into the air, where it exploded into smaller projectiles that rained down onto the battlefield. "Oh no." Not knowing what else to do, she swung her Keyblade wildly at any random projectile that fell near her. The objects that made contact with the ground burst, leaving traces of icy hot debris to fly out dangerously like shrapnel.

"And Sora didn't teach me how to use Reflect yet!" she complained.

_"But he did teach us Magnega, right?"_ Naminé asked. Kairi grinned at the reminder. She raised the Keyblade above her head.

_**"GATHER!"**_ A single orb instantaneously appeared yards away from Kairi and drew the falling debris to its core, obliterating them. "That was easy." Kairi turned to face her opponent again. "Now where were we?"

Undaunted, the behemoth plunged its fists into the ground again, this time summoning orbs of darkness which started closing in on Kairi. "All right, it's finally in range!"

_"Look out!"_ Naminé yelled. As the gravity orbs homed in on Kairi, her body went into automatic as she did a quick triple axel in the air, deflecting the spheres of energy away with her Keyblade.

_"Glad Riku taught me how to Aerial Dodge,"_ she thought as she landed on Darkside's forearm. Struggling to keep her balance, her hand made contact with its surface causing a cold, uneasy chill to flow through her. Kairi knew that if she paused to think, she would definitely fall off. She ran along the length of the forearm, focusing intensely at her target's head.

Kairi shifted her balance as she pulled the Keyblade back. Her weapon smoothly plunged into the Heartless' head like a machete through melted butter. If it had a voice, the Darkside would probably have cried out in pain. The critical blow struck true. Feeling Darkside's solidity start to evaporate beneath her, Kairi immediately jumped off, landing neatly onto the dirt. She turned to see the creature buckle over before fading into nothingness.

The redhead let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that's over."

Naminé sighed too, but in disappointment. _"It's not over yet, girl."_

"What are you...?" Suddenly, bands of light materialized over her wrists and ankles. As she stared curiously at them, the light started to grow steadily brighter before engulfing her vision. Kairi felt her entire body go numb as the light washed over her. She willed her hand to maintain its grip onto the Keyblade no matter what.

"What the..." As the brightness faded, she blinked a few times to refocus on her surroundings. There was no longer any wind or debris flying around. Kairi felt relieved that she had managed to maintain a firm grip on the Keyblade. That relief gave way to trepid confusion when she realized that she was no longer standing on solid ground. Her body was suspended spread-eagle in space, no longer above Radiant Garden, but some type of inter-dimensional dreamscape. Directly below her was a perfectly circular platform etched with what looked like a stain-glass window painting of Sora. "Where are we?" Kairi asked as she squirmed uncomfortably in her bondage. "And why am I restrained like this?"

_"This would be the Station of Awakening,"_ Naminé explained. _"Sora and Roxas both fought here once."_

"Really? It seems so peaceful here."

_"Don't let your guard down,"_ Naminé warned._ "We wouldn't be here unless you're being tested for something."_

"Tested?" Kairi repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

Naminé was silent for a moment. _"I'm not sure,"_ was all she replied.

The only thing that worried Kairi at the moment was that the more she struggled against her restraints, the more her dress started to ride up.

"If the guys were underneath me right now, I'd probably die of embarrassment."

_"Just be glad you didn't go commando today,"_ Naminé replied. _"At least you're not wearing your teddy-bear underwear anymore."_

"Hey! It's my sixteenth birthday! I figured it was time to start wearing lace!"

Before Naminé could reply back, a Darkside-sized Nobody with sharp, broad shoulders, tentacle-like tendrils erupting from its neck, giant pincer-like hands and a bulb for a head snaked into Kairi's view.

"EEEK!" Kairi shrieked. "How long has that thing been there?! It didn't look up my..." The thought made Kairi's face burn fire-engine red. "Naminé! You're a Nobody, right? Isn't there any way to talk with it?"

_"Hello! I merged with you, remember? I don't physically have a body anymore!"_

"Just what is that thing?" Kairi asked nervously. "And why is it staring at me like that?"

_"It's called a Twilight Thorn and it usually plays around with its prey."_ The Nobody's "face" loomed closer to Kairi's struggling body.

"Oh my gawd! It's not going to kiss me, is it?!" Kairi asked in a panic. "I never even got to kiss Sora yet!"

_"Kairi,_" Naminé sighed, _"I think you need a serious vacation."_

* * *

_**"LIGHT!"**_ A crystal sphere of light enveloped Sora. He could feel the warm, pleasurable feeling of power rush from his heart into every point of his body. The sphere shattered into nothingness to reveal Sora's Final Form. The Keyblades Ultima Weapon and Fenrir hung in the air behind him as he hovered a couple feet off the ground. He was now at the same head height as Riku.

"What the...?" Riku stared at Sora incredulously. "You wore your traveling clothes underneath your tuxedo?"

Sora shrugged. "Hey, I was having second thoughts, okay?"

Riku stood silent for a moment. "Uh, Sora? Hate to break this to you, but your tuxedo..." Riku indicated the scraps of cloth flying around Sora's glowing form. "It's just been incinerated by your Driving." The only remnants of Sora's wedding garb were floating embers falling gently to the ground. Sora slapped his forehead in frustration.

"Oh man, Tidus is so going to kill me." Riku was about to tease him about that point, but then he noticed Donald and Goofy fighting alongside Queen Minnie and King Mickey in the distance.

"Wait a minute," Riku started slowly. "I thought Driving into Final Form causes Donald and Goofy to disappear."

"Surprised?" Sora smirked with a confident air. "Well, I found out two ways to get around that rule."

"How so?"

"First, since Roxas' heart is in sync with mine, my Drive Forms' expectancy increased to an infinite degree."

"Which means you can pretty much Drive whenever you want for as long as you want?" Sora nodded. "I think your Final Form would've looked a whole lot better than that tuxedo you were wearing."

"Yeah, it's more comfortable too. The tuxedo was starting to give me a wedgie."

Riku shook his head in amusement. "Hopeless. Anyway, what was the other way?"

Sora gave his silver-haired friend a mischievous grin. "I activated the cheat code that allows me to Drive without losing party members."


	4. Kairi vs Twilight Thorn & a FF8 Reunion

_"Look out!"_ Naminé cried. The Twilight Thorn pulled back its arm, readying a punch. Kairi could feel one of her leg restraints start to give way. She had to time it just right...

Once the fist was in range, she yanked her leg backward and kicked out as hard as she could. Her boot made contact with the soft jelly-like skin, causing its appendage to be deflected back into the Nobody's face.

Unfortunately, as soon as Kairi's leg came back into position, her leg restraint locked back into its immovable state. Undaunted, Twilight Thorn's hands wrapped itself around Kairi's suspended form and ripped her out of space, breaking her bonds. She immediately tried to squirm into a better position to attack, but its giant hands were too high up her body for her to swing with any force. It was about to fling her into the air when she shouted, "Let me go!"

Stunned that its prey had a higher-pitched voice than any boy that it usually fought would have, the Nobody curiously lifted her toward its face. "Wait, what are you doing?" Kairi yelled. Still bewildered, the Twilight Thorn started to probe her body, its neck tentacles poking around in her armpits.

"NOOHOHO! STAHAHAPP!" Kairi squealed, unable to help herself. "THAAHAAT T-TICKLES!"

_"I'm thinking this Nobody's ever seen a girl before."_ Naminé observed. Kairi couldn't care less as the intense ticklish onslaught continued. While she was wiggling and giggling, the Twilight Thorn started to slowly move its thumbs upward toward her...

"You perv! **BACK OFF!**" With untapped strength, Kairi hurled the Keyblade smack dab right into the Nobody's face causing it to drop her. The force of the attack sent it flying off the platform.

"Oh my gawd," Kairi panted, wrapping her arms around her chest. "That felt sooooo wrong."

_"Maybe because it was someone other than Sora that was doing it?"_ Naminé asked slyly.

"Quiet, you," Kairi snapped, still red-faced. She looked around the platform, but Twilight Thorn wasn't anywhere in sight. "Where'd it go?"

_"Kairi! Above you!"_ Kairi turned her gaze upward and sure enough, the Nobody was hanging upside-down in the air.

The platform started to rumble as it tilted toward the creature. Kairi desperately tried to keep her footing, but soon the slant was too great and the reversal of gravity resulted with her falling upward. Twilight Thorn charged up a planet-sized ball of sinister-looking energy and hurled it straight into Kairi's path. The entire universe seemed to move in slow motion.

"AHHH! I'm gonna die!" Kairi screamed.

_"Calm down! We're not going to die!"_ Naminé yelled in a barely concealed panic. _"Nomura said that we play a big role in KH3! They're not going to kill off the love interests! Try throwing the Keyblade!"_ she added.

"Are you crazy?!" Kairi shot back. "I'm not going to..."

**FLASH!**

_The gentle waves lapped against Kairi's feet as she practiced her fighting skills with Sora. He wrapped his arms from behind her body like an accidental embrace and readjusted her grip on the weapon. She couldn't help but blush from the feeling of his chest pressing up against her back._

_"But what if an attack is coming and I can't avoid it?" she asked._

_Sora's lips gently tickled her ear as he whispered, "If you can't avoid the oncoming attack, it's best to charge straight through it."_

**FLASH!**

Kairi knew what to do. She positioned her Keyblade straight over her head and spun her body around, spearing herself right into the sphere of energy. The resulting explosion rang in her ears as both combatants slammed into the platform almost simultaneously.

"Ow..." Kairi moaned, massaging her back. "That was so not fun."

_"Come on! Hurry!"_ Naminé said quickly. _"Now's our chance!"_ The Twilight Thorn seemed to be weakened from the sudden outburst of energy.

Wasting no more time, Kairi tightened her grip and charged with an Amazonian war cry. She hacked and slashed at its most vulnerable spot, its head jiggling with each blow like jelly. Finally, focusing all her frustration and humiliation from being violated by this creature, she leapt into the air yelling, **"NEVER AGAIN!"** and plunged the Keyblade straight downward into its non-existent skull.

As Kairi ripped out her weapon from its head, the creature stiffened upright before collapsing onto the platform with a gigantic crash. Its body evaporated into purplish, black smoke-like waves that covered the platform, eating up all visible color. The darkness began to seep over Kairi and for the first time in a while, she could feel thrills of fear pulsate throughout her body. She attempted to wave off the darkness with her Keyblade, but her efforts were in vain.

Painful memories started to resurface. The Heartless were swarming the island. She ran to the secret place behind the waterfall, but it was a dead end. The Shadows were creeping closer...She didn't know whether to scream or cry. She was all alone. The last thing she had said before the Heartless had taken her was...

"SORA!" Kairi cried. As soon as the name escaped her lips, a bright shining light burst from within her, eradicating the darkness. A warm, comforting feeling flowed within her as she heard Sora's voice whispering, _"I'm always with you too..."_

Kairi was dimly aware of her shivering body sprawled out on the ground as she felt her panic subsiding along with the warm pleasure that had countered it. _"Are you okay?"_ Naminé asked gently. Finally, Kairi sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm okay. What just happened?"

_"I think that you just proved yourself to be a Princess of Heart,"_ Naminé replied.

"Where are we, anyway?" Kairi took a look at her new surroundings. They were in an open-air circular room, lined with waterfalls and white keyhole-shaped coves with hazy blue auras inside them. A beaten-up computer console sat in the middle of the room. Kairi's eyes flickered up toward the horizon and gasped as she saw Radiant Garden's castle towering in the distance. "At least we're still in Radiant Garden."

_"There seems to be two exits. A tunnel and the door."_

"Let's see..." Kairi brushed away some stray hair that covered her face. "Let's try the tunnel first since it seems to lead outside." However, as soon as she got close enough, Kairi noticed that a glimmering barrier of light blocked the passage. She tried to smash the Keyblade against the barrier with all of her strength, but it wouldn't falter.

_"Well, that stinks. I guess, we have to go for the door."_

Kairi cautiously pushed one of the double doors open. All she could see was a bright, white hallway with a cascading waterfall lining the inside. "It looks safe enough." With great caution, she started to move forward. Kairi barely went a few feet down the length of the hall when Nobodies jumped out of thin air.

"Nobodies, huh?" Kairi tightened her grip on the Keyblade. "We can take-" Before she finished her sentence, more Nobodies appeared, effectively tripling their numbers. "On second thought, RUN!" Kairi retreated back to the door with the creatures gaining on her. She dived through the open doorway and shoved it closed. Squishing sounds emanated through the door as her pursuers collided right into it.

"I don't think even a Keyblade could get rid of all of those guys!" Kairi huffed as she struggled to catch her breath.

_"Remember when Sora and Roxas were arguing about who had the better Keyblade combination?"_ Naminé asked rhetorically. _"Roxas was all, 'I kicked your butt with Oblivion and Oathkeeper! If I knew that you could summon your Keyblade into your hand, I totally would've beaten you!'"_

"Oh, yeah!" Kairi giggled. "Then Sora was like, '_You've got to be kidding me! It's Ultima Weapon and Fenrir, no question! You've got your balance of attack and the right amount of combos. Not to mention it's called "Ultima" for a reason! And Fenrir HAS to be uber-powerful because we got it after we beat Sephiroth!'_"

Naminé chuckled. _"What is it with guys and naming inanimate objects, anyway?"_

"I totally agree. I mean, "Follow the Wind", "Decisive Pumpkin", "Sweet Memory"...who comes up those names?" Kairi and Naminé laughed at the ridiculousness. After they finished, Kairi suddenly said, "Oh, that reminds me, when we get back home, I need to put Paopu Poochie in the washing machine."

_"You're right,"_ Naminé agreed. _"He's starting to give off a fruity smell for some odd reason."_

"Anyway..." Kairi gazed longingly at the open sky. Despite being outside, she still felt isolated from the rest of the world. "The tunnel's blocked by some type of light barrier and on the other side of the door is about a thousand Nobodies whose sole purpose is to keep us from leaving. Who in the world would build a place like this?"

_"I...think I know where we are,"_ Naminé said slowly. _"When I was being held at Castle Oblivion, I remember Vexen mentioning something about 'backing up the Organization's data.' Look around; there's thirteen coves, each of them displaying weapons."_

"So this place was built by the Organization?"

_"Looks like it. And it seems that their security system was to keep whoever trespassed trapped in here so they could study them."_

Kairi didn't like where this was going. "So what you're saying," she clarified, "that in order to get out of here, I've got to fight against each of these simulations?"

_"That'd be my guess."_

Kairi sighed. "And to think I started this day worrying about getting married..."

* * *

"Olette, are you okay?" Selphie asked. The girls had lost consciousness for a few minutes after being blasted into the air. "Where's Kairi?"

Olette shrugged helplessly. "I don't know! I just woke up a few seconds before you did. Maybe someone else saw her."

"With all the action and confusion going on, I wouldn't get my hopes up." There was a tone of hopelessness in Selphie's reply.

"Wait! There's Seifer and Hayner!" Olette pointed out a group of kids that were surrounded by Dusks.

"Seifer?" Selphie repeated. "He looks familiar."

Olette's eyes widened. "You've been to Twilight Town before?"

Selphie shook her head. "I've never even been outside Destiny Islands before the wedding." She clamped the nunchaku under her arm. "Anyway, those friends of yours look like they could use some help."

Not owning real weapons, the group had equipped themselves with their Struggle bats. Rai, Fuu, Vivi and Pence were doing their best to fight as well. Predictably, the foam bats couldn't even touch the Dusks. "Hey, quit playing around and fight!" Seifer yelled in frustration.

The Dusks danced around in their wavy hypnotic motions, stopping only to scratch or whip their opponents with an appendage before dancing out of range. Selphie led Olette through a crowd of Heartless toward the group. Sensing the presence of new hearts, the Dusks turned their attention toward the girls and began swarming the two. Being the only one with a usable weapon, Selphie was overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of attackers.

"We need help!" Pence cried. "And better weapons!" As if in answer to his pleas, a familiar scarred warrior wielding a Gunblade appeared, slashing through each Nobody as if they were soaked paper. "What the..."

"You kids alright?" Leon asked, his sword clacking stoically when the last enemy was defeated.

"Who are you?" Hayner asked.

"A friend of Sora's. You sounded like you called for help."

"We would've taken them down eventually," Seifer scoffed.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"He's Seifer, y'know?" Rai stated proudly.

Leon looked Seifer up and down suspiciously. "Have we met before?"

Seifer eyed the Gunblade and gave him a smug glare. "I think I'd remember a lamer like you."

"What'd you say, you little punk?" Leon growled. Seifer waved the comment off with his usual arrogant swagger.

"Rai. Fuu. Vivi." Seifer motioned toward his gang. "I've had enough of this place. We're going back to Twilight Town."

"Agreed," Fuu replied in her monotonous voice. And with that, Seifer and his gang began strutting away.

Leon's eyes narrowed as they left. Finally he said, "I've only met him two minutes ago and already I hate his guts."

"Don't take it personally," Pence said. "Seifer's always like that." That's when Leon gave Selphie a strange look.

"Aren't you..." Leon started, but then shook his head. "Never mind."


	5. The Key of Destiny & FFX: Tidus' Deja Vu

_"SORA!"_ Sora flinched as Kairi's outburst echoed through his head.

"Kairi?!" Sora looked around, but he didn't see any trace of her. He and Riku had just escorted the other six Princesses of Heart to a safe-room in a hidden wing of the castle.

"Sora, what's up?" Riku asked. However, one quick glance at Sora's worried expression told him everything.

"Didn't you hear her just now?" Sora asked. Riku shook his head.

"No, but I'm assuming you did." Riku said. "Your hearts are connected after all."

"It sounded like she needed help!" Sora couldn't understand why Riku looked extremely serene at the moment.

"Calm down. I'm pretty sure she's all..." Riku's thought trailed off in mid-sentence. Something was starting to click in the back of his mind. Sora was too focused on Kairi to realize... "I think someone's messing with us," he whispered.

Sora's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Who?"

"Not sure. But for some reason they specifically targeted Kairi out of everyone here. They can't be trying to open the Door to Darkness again, because the other six Princesses of Heart are still here." He motioned toward the safe-room being heavily guarded by King Mickey's royal knights. "This battle, this whole fight..." Riku's eyes narrowed. "...it's a distraction."

Riku broke into a run with Sora Supergliding after him. "Where are we going?"

"We need to regroup with everyone else and fast! Because if I'm right," Riku huffed, "the marriage will be the least of our problems."

* * *

Kairi and Naminé decided to work from right to left, starting with a blue hazy cove holding a shadow of a key. As soon as Kairi touched it, a bright light obscured her surroundings. When her vision finally came back, she found herself on the platform with Sora's etching again. She held out her Keyblade in a ready stance.

"I really hope it's not that Twilight Thorn again," Kairi said nervously. "I **so** don't want to be groped like that a second time." She shuddered at the memory.

_"Except by Sora."_

"Yeah, except by..." Kairi stopped herself. "Ewww! No! What's wrong with you?!"

_"Hey, I don't have a body of my own anymore, okay? Even a girl's other consciousness has needs too."_

Random data streams appeared, twisting and turning before their eyes, until they took form of a black-cloaked humanoid slightly taller than them.

_"I'm guessing this is our first opponent,"_ Naminé said.

Two shafts of light shot out of the being's hands, instantly forming into...

"Keyblades?" Without warning, the black-cloaked figure lunged at Kairi. Taken off guard, she barely had time to put her own Keyblade up in time to parry the attack. The figure attacked relentlessly. All Kairi could do was dodge, leap back and deflect his attacks.

"Who are you?" Kairi asked.

"Someone from the dark," came the reply.

_"Wait a minute,"_ Naminé said suddenly. _"That voice sounds awfully familiar."_

Kairi leapt back from a giant swing. She heard the familiarity too. "Roxas?" She swiped with her Keyblade, pushing the hood back to reveal Roxas' impassive face.

"Roxas, please! Don't you know me?" In response, Roxas' Oathkeeper managed to smack Kairi's arm. She bit back tears that were instinctively forming by the stinging sensation and concentrated on blocking his strikes.

However, Roxas was too quick with his attacks, eventually forcing Kairi to defend on her knees. His Keyblades hammered against hers with ruthless aggression. She struggled to hold her Keyblade steady, but with him being Sora's other half, the Princess of Heart wasn't strong enough to withstand the constant flurry of blows.

With one final swipe, Kairi's Keyblade was sent flying, clattering uselessly ten feet from her. Kairi rushed for her disarmed weapon, but Roxas was faster. She barely took a single step before Roxas transformed into light and used his Oathkeeper to pin her Keyblade down. Without hesitation, he shoved Oblivion into Kairi's face, causing her to land painfully on her butt.

**"ROXAS, STOP!"** Naminé cried. The data projection stopped in mild surprise, for Naminé's voice had come directly from Kairi's mouth.

_"Wait, Naminé? Did you just..."_ That's when Kairi noticed she was no longer in control of her own body. In fact, she didn't look anything like herself anymore. Her hair was blonde, she was wearing sandals and a (surprisingly comfortable) one-piece white dress.

"Roxas! Don't you remember? It's me! Naminé!" Roxas stood silent for a moment, his Oblivion still trained on her.

_"Did you get through to him?"_ Kairi wondered. After a long moment of tension, Roxas shook his head.

"Never heard of you." The Keyblade flashed directly into Naminé's hurt expression.

* * *

"Wakka! You've seen Selphie or Kairi yet?"

"Nope! Been busy taking down these _*erf*_ black things!" Tidus and Wakka found themselves trapped among a crowd of Soldier Heartless. Unfortunately for Tidus, he had never set foot outside Destiny Islands before, so he had to borrow a sword from one of the castle guards. Wakka was using his trusty Blitzball.

"I never thought fighting for real was going to be this tough!" Tidus complained. Suddenly, Wakka was struck with inspiration.

"I got an idea! Go long!" Wakka yelled. Tidus understood immediately. They had set up a new play earlier and now would be a good time to test it.

"Who's butt am I going to kick?" Tidus thrust his sword into the ground, used the hilt as a stepping stone, and leaped high into the air. "Eeny, Meeny, Miny..."

Wakka wound up and let the ball fly. "Here you go!"

"...Mo!" Tidus fluidly flipped into a powerful bicycle kick, disintegrating the Heartless by sheer force. "Score!" Before they could celebrate their victory, reinforcements materialized, completely surrounding them. "What's with these things? There's too many of them!"

As soon as the words left Tidus' mouth, a red blur rushed past him and in one swift stroke, their new ally took down the entire crowd.

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Tidus exclaimed. Auron looked at Tidus through his unscarred eye.

"It seems we were fated to meet. Maybe you need a guardian."

Tidus shot a confused glance at his friend. "Hey, Wakka?"

"Ya?"

He jerked a thumb toward Auron. "This old guy look familiar to you?"

Wakka scratched behind his head. "Nah, never met him before in my life." Then Tidus felt something bump into his back.

"Hey, what..." He turned to see three cute, young fairies hovering behind him. The one with the blue and white sash was rubbing her head.

"So sorry about that!"

Tidus raised an eyebrow. "And who are you three?"

Yuna waved her arms dismissively. "Oh, we're nothing worth mentioning."

Tidus gave the Gullwings a good, hard look before shifting his gaze back to Auron.

"Okay, you four look really familiar, but I can't place it..." Tidus turned to Wakka who was spinning his Blitzball on his forefinger. "Does any of this give you a feeling of deja vu?"

"Hmm..." Wakka stared at the balancing globe before letting the sphere drop into his open palms. "Nope. I think you've just been taking one too many Blitzballs to the head."


	6. Dual Wielding Namine?

Time seemed to slow down as Oblivion creeped closer to Naminé's face. Without any rational thought, she fell back and lashed her leg out as hard as she could. Catching Roxas by surprise, the Keyblade was sent flying out of his grip. With her opponent stunned by the sudden disarmament, Naminé rocked herself upright and spin-kicked Roxas through his skull, sending him reeling.

_"What..."_ Kairi was stunned. _"How in the world did you do that?!"_ Naminé grinned.

"What? You thought all I could do was draw and rewrite memories?" Before Roxas could recover, Naminé twirled into the air and caught Oblivion on its downward flight. The faux Roxas stared at her in shock. "So, you don't remember me, huh?"

Now it was Roxas' turn to go on the defensive. He jumped back, completely forgetting that he had Kairi's Keyblade pinned down. Naminé hadn't forgotten, though. She slide-dashed toward the fallen Keyblade and grabbed it with her free hand. For the first time since she was created, she felt a rush of adrenaline that she had never experienced before.

It felt good.  
No, it was better than good.  
It felt great.

Twirling the Keyblades in each hand, she was Naminé: dual-wielder. She gave Roxas a confident smirk. The boy stood silent, sizing up the new status quo. The two combatants stared each other down; Naminé's fiery gaze peered into Roxas' soulless eyes. After a few seconds, they charged with reciprocated ferocity.

Roxas swung Oathkeeper in a downward arc, but whiffed air as Naminé split-jumped over the incoming attack and came down hard on Roxas outstretched hands with her Keyblades. Trapping his arms in-between her weapons with a pincer-like grip, she twisted hard, causing the data form to grunt in pain, effectively disarming him. Before Roxas could comprehend what just happened, Naminé planted both feet into his face, knocking him off balance.

Roxas staggered in a disoriented daze. Wasting no time, Naminé dropped her Keyblades, flipped her body onto Roxas' shoulders and wrapped her legs around his head. **"TAKE THIS!"** She used her momentum to swing herself around and take Roxas down with a scissor kick to the ground. Unfortunately, this technique caused her to land on Roxas' face.

"KYAAHH!" Naminé shrieked as she felt Roxas' face implanted into her posterior. She kept trying to stand up, but his head would instinctively snap up, banging into her and causing Naminé to crash down on top of him again. With her opponent thrashing about, she couldn't get a good footing to stand up. "Stupid, non-friction sandals!" she cursed. Roxas' arms flailed around as he struggled to breathe, but Naminé's butt continued to smother him. After what seemed like the most awkward and embarrassing twenty seconds of Naminé's life, the Roxas Data went limp.

_"Oh my gawd,"_ Kairi cried._ "You killed Roxas!"_

"No," Naminé said, holding her dress closed, "he just fainted." A mysterious twinkle sparked in her eyes. "I'm just glad this isn't the real Roxas, though."

_"How come?"_ Kairi asked apprehensively. Without Roxas' head constantly knocking her back down, Naminé was finally able to stand up.

"Or else I wouldn't be able to do this!" She swiped Kairi's Keyblade off the ground and pummeled the poor, unconscious body of Roxas. After a few minutes of spousal abuse, the data form dissolved back into computer code from whence it came along with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Another bright light engulfed the girls and they found themselves back in the waterfall room. The first thing that caught their attention was that Roxas' cove was now sporting a pink light instead of blue.

_"Whoa, girl!"_ were the first words that came out of Kairi's head. _"What was with that whole berserker rage?"_

Naminé closed her eyes and let out a sigh of contentment. "It's been a while since I've had my own body. I just had all this restless frustration I needed to let out." She began stretching out some tightness in her shoulders. "Besides, if I ever get mad at Roxas in the future, I can always remember the pummeling I just gave him."

_"Wow, you and Roxas haven't even gotten married yet and you're already in need of marriage counseling. But what made you so sure that wasn't the real Roxas?"_

"I told you, these are Data backups of the Organization members. Everyone we fight was either destroyed or fused back to their original form."

_"I see."_ Naminé sat down on the surprisingly clean floor, removed her sandals and massaged her aching feet. _"Where in the world did you learn those moves?"_ Kairi asked. _"I mean, even I didn't know how to do that!"_

Naminé shrugged. "Easy. When I was trapped in Castle Oblivion, I self-taught myself whenever I went to the bathroom."

_"You mean you could've taken down the Organization anytime you wanted?"_

"Uh, no. I was still only 14, remember? Going up against a teenager my age is one thing. Trying to fight against adults with weapons and other powers would be suicide. Not to mention they would've killed me if they didn't need me for the whole "Chain of Memories" bit first." Kairi looked through Naminé's eyes and noticed something peculiar that she never thought of before.

_"Is this really all you wear? __Only a one-piece dress and sandals?"_

Naminé wiggled her toes a bit before putting her footwear back on. "Yeah, what about it?"

Kairi would've had a bewildered expression on her face if Naminé wasn't using her body at the moment. _"Do you realize you're only one piece of clothing away from running around naked?"_ she pointed out.

Naminé shrugged again. "What can I say? I was created that way."

_"Uh-huh. You mind if I have my body back now?"_ Kairi suddenly felt control return to her. She checked herself and was glad to find her body was back to its original state of dress too.

As Kairi stood up, she noticed an odd feeling in her heart. It felt familiar, but she couldn't place it. She shook her head dismissively. There were more important things to worry about. "Alright, one down, twelve to go. So who's next?"

* * *

Sora felt a sort of unease in the back of his mind that had nothing to do with him. _"Roxas?"_ Sora inwardly called. _"What are you so worried about?"_

In Sora's mind's eye, Roxas had a grimace of disgust on his face. _"I don't know why, but I feel extremely dirty and beat-up for some reason."_

_"Well, we've been fighting pretty hard."_

_"Maybe...I guess it's just my imagination."_

"You two okay up there?" Riku asked Sora as he glided. Running on foot was taking too long, so Riku grabbed one of the skateboards littering the area and used it to cruise down the path.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, we're cool."

However, Riku didn't seem to be listening. "If I only could open up the corridors of darkness, this would be a whole lot faster," he muttered. "Hasn't anyone invented cars in this world?" He stopped himself. "Wait, I don't even have a driver's license, let alone a permit." Then something else clicked. "More importantly, I don't think I've seen a single car in this entire universe!"

* * *

Aladdin swiped his Scimitar at the oncoming Fat Bandits. He'd been stuck at this routine for a half-hour already and his sword arm was getting sore from overuse.

"In need of some assistance?" Out of the blue, a familiar-looking swashbuckler landed a few feet behind Aladdin wielding his _"Skull and Crossbones"_ blade.

"Thanks! I'm Aladdin! You must be the famous Jack Sparrow I've heard so much about."

"That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, if you please." Sparrow looked at Aladdin. "Well, Laddie, looks like we have our hands full." Sparrow and Aladdin found themselves back-to-back with the cliff wall on one side and a steep drop on the other.

Aladdin gave Sparrow his trickster smile. "Bet you two rubies that I can take down more Heartless than you."

"A pirate always looks to profit. First to thirty, savvy?" Sparrow said as he slapped Aladdin on the shoulder.

"Fine with me!" And with that, they charged at their opponents, knocking them off the cliff like boulders.

Five minutes later, Aladdin cried, "Thirty Heartless!"

"Excellent job, Lad! However, I finished five seconds before you did."

"Really." Aladdin crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't take it hard, Laddie!" Sparrow laughed heartily as he slowly made his way backwards. "Just remember that this was the day that you almost..." Before Jack could finish his departing line, he lost his footing and fell over the edge.

"Jack!" Aladdin cried. He ran to see what became of his ally and was astonished to find no trace of him.

* * *

Captain Jack Sparrow chuckled to himself as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of shiny rubies. "It doesn't look like 'ol Laddie will need these anytime soon." He rubbed the two stolen gems between his fingers. Then he reached into his other pocket, frowned and double-checked. After patting himself down, he shook his head. "That blasted bugger swiped my compass!"

* * *

"Nice job, Abu!" Aladdin said to his faithful partner. He playfully tossed Jack Sparrow's compass into the air. "A pirate may always look to profit, but he should never steal from a master thief."


	7. Kairi's Doubt? & LIMIT BREAK!

"How about we try this one next?" After taking a quick rest, Kairi and Naminé decided to take an interesting-looking cove to their left. Kairi peered closer. "What is that, a comb?"

Naminé laughed. _"Yeah, right. Most of the Organization may be idiots, but who would be stupid enough to fight with a hair accessory?"_

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Kairi took a deep breath before reaching out to touch the shadowy object. The bright light engulfed them once again, transporting them to a white circular arena with posts lining around its circumference.

_"Nice to see a change of scenery,"_ Naminé commented.

Data streams appeared, twisting themselves into the shape of...

"A woman?" Kairi got into her battle position. "Naminé, I thought the Organization were all guys."

The blonde girl with the antennae brushed off her shoulders as if there were flies on her cloak. Her emerald green eyes seemed to pierce into Kairi's soul. "Well, what do we have here?"

_"Larxene,"_ Naminé growled.

Kairi was shocked to hear Naminé's angry tone. "You know her?"

_"She's the wench who used to beat me up back in Castle Oblivion!"_ Naminé replied curtly. _"Larxene was the only female member of the Organization for as long as I can remember."_

"Oh yeah, I know who you are now." Larxene grinned. "You must be Kairi. The hero's love interest."

"Huh? You know me?" Kairi asked, completely taken off guard.

Larxene waved the question away with a careless air. "How could I not? You're that girl that Sora had his sights on before he decided to..." She dramatically stopped mid-sentence. "No, it might break that weak, little heart of yours."

"What?" Kairi foolishly asked. "Tell me!"

Larxene arrogantly placed her hands on her hips. "Let me ask you, do you really believe that Sora has any feelings for you?"

Kairi's Keyblade arm dropped to her side. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you know how pathetically easy it was for him to forget about you?" Larxene raised an eyebrow. "Face it, he didn't want anything to do with you! That's why he left you back on your pitiful island. He had enough of you and decided to get away as far as possible!"

"What?" Kairi's heart started to ache. "No...that can't be..."

"Didn't he even say to you that you'd just be in his way?" Larxene continued. "And as soon as he entered Castle Oblivion, he forgot about you and that silly little promise you made!"

_"Kairi! Don't listen to her!"_ Naminé pleaded.

"Sora went through Castle Oblivion for the sole purpose of seeing Naminé! While you were stuck waiting for him, he was cheating on you!" Kairi's doubt must have shown on her face, because Larxene's evil grin grew wider. "What? Does the truth break your heart?"

Kairi didn't know what to say. "I..." She could feel tears start to form in her eyes as sorrow and despair infiltrated her mind.

_"That's not true!"_ Naminé said. _"Kairi, he truly was and still is in love with you! He only came after me because I was forced to redirect his feelings for you!"_

"Love," Larxene said, "It's all a bunch of nonsense! Too often, "I love you" is something people say when they want to get something out of you or control you. They don't actually mean anything by it." She tilted her head to one side, clearly enjoying the mental anguish she was causing Kairi. "You should just forget him. He never cared for you. You were just some toy whose feelings he could manipulate very easily."

_"Is it true, Sora?"_ Kairi thought sadly. _"Did you...really forget our promise?"_

_"Kairi, listen to me!"_ Naminé cried. "_Larxene is someone who loves nothing more than to bring other people down. She's playing with your emotions, trying to weaken the bond between you and Sora!"_

"Naminé," Kairi began slowly, "answer me truthfully. Did Sora forget the promise we made?"

Naminé took a few seconds to choose her words carefully. _"He could never truly forget your promise. I may have altered his memories, but he stayed true to it. And if you still don't believe in his true feelings for you, check your belt!_" Kairi's hand ran over her waist until she felt what Naminé was talking about.

* * *

_"It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me!"_

_"Don't worry, I will."_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

_"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."_

_"I'm always with you too. I'll come back to you! I promise!"_

_"W-We're back!"_

_"You're home."_

* * *

"No," Kairi whispered.

Larxene looked at her, confused. "Excuse me?"

"I SAID, NO!" Kairi burst out. "It may not be enough to say 'I love you.' You can love more than one person. You can love in more than one way. You can love somebody as a friend. But it's just not that I love him, Larxene. It's not just that he loves me. We need each other." Kairi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. There were no more tears in her eyes, but sparkles of faith. "That's how Sora beat you! Our hearts are connected and they always will be!"

Larxene was no longer smiling. "You'd fight for a heartless hero?"

"The only one who's heartless around here is you!" Kairi shot back, pointing her Keyblade.

Larxene giggled. "Well, duh! I'm a member of the Organization; I don't have a heart!"

Kairi could feel Naminé's fury start to boil over in her mind. _"Let me at her!"_ Naminé argued.

"No!" Kairi snapped. "She's mine."

"Says the girl with the underdeveloped chest," Larxene taunted. Kairi usually never got angry. Her heart just never seemed to comprehend the emotion. She may have felt fear, concern and jealousy, but she never truly hated anyone. But after having her wedding ruined, being captured by a giant Heartless, personally violated by a Nobody and having to deal with all of this on her 16th birthday...

"Okay, b$#%h! You asked for it!" Kairi exploded as her grip tightened around the Keyblade.

Lightning blasted from Larxene's hands as they formed kunai knives between her fingers. The air around her sparked with electrical fury. "It's your funeral."

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "Bring it, blondie!"

* * *

Aerith and Cid were trying to make their way to Ansem's Study so they could activate the town's security grid. Unfortunately, they soon found themselves trapped in-between Armored Knight Heartless and Sorcerer Nobodies.

"Well, looks like we've got no choice, then," Cid sighed. He turned to Aerith. "One more for old times sake?"

Aerith winked coyly. "You better believe it." Out of nowhere, Aerith whipped out what looked like a short stick. Clicking a button on the side, the stick expanded until it became a long metal staff. "Shall we?"

As the Heartless got closer, Aerith closed her eyes and started chanting in an ancient tongue as her body began to pulsate with ever-brightening light. After a few seconds, a soft drizzle started to fall. Her eyes snapped open as she threw her staff a few feet from her, magically hovering tall and erect. The light suddenly burst from her body, stopping the rain. White-hot shafts of energy burned down through the sky, incinerating the Heartless.

The Sorcerer Nobodies closed in on Cid. Sighing, he let out a long, sharp whistle. From behind cloud cover, a giant Gummi ship flew into position with its cannons locked-on to the enemy. Cid raised his arm and signaled the crew to open fire. Missiles bombarded the battlefield, taking out each and every single Nobody in their vicinity.

As soon as the smoke cleared, Cid chuckled. "Gotta love Shera. She knows exactly how to make a man proud."


	8. Kairi vs the Savage Nymph

Larxene bolted at Kairi with such blazing speed, the Princess of Heart barely got her Keyblade up to defend. Larxene swiped and clawed like a ferocious animal, forcing Kairi to jump back, the knives barely missing her face. Unfortunately, Larxene used her momentum to whirlwind kick Kairi in the stomach. Kairi doubled over in pain as the wind was knocked out of her.

Larxene chuckled. "Aw, what's wrong, princess? I thought you were going to show me how strong you were with that heart of yours."

Kairi massaged her abdominals, shaking off the pain. _"Kairi, you okay?"_ Naminé asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Kairi glared at her opponent.

"I see why you and Sora were meant to be together," Larxene laughed. "You both are totally pathetic!"

"Then how'd you die in the first place?" Kairi shot back. "Your acne medicine give you cancer?"

"How'd you...?" Larxene stopped herself. "You insolent brat! My complexion's much smoother than yours!"

"Really?" Kairi smirked. "I thought your skin was shiny because of all the oil clogging up your pores!"

"Shut up!" Larxene was no longer smiling. "How about I mess that pretty face of yours with these!" She wiggled the knives in her hands and started flinging them out in rapid succession.

Kairi found herself in a hailstorm of projectiles as Larxene threw her kunai with ferocious intent. She dodged and deflected as best as she could, but the knives managed to cut across her bare skin and outfit leaving deep gashes in their wake. _"If I can't stop her attack, I'm going to end up grated like shredded cheese!"_ Kairi thought. Maybe due to the adrenaline pumping through her body or the stress starting to take its toll, an idea popped into Kairi's head. She aimed her Keyblade outward.

**"GATHER!"** The small orb of gravity appeared in front of her and redirected Larxene's knives toward its center, dissipating them. Kairi brushed her frizzled hair out of her face. "How'd you like that?!"

_"Kairi, behind you!"_ Naminé yelled. Too late.

THWACK! Kairi felt the imprint of a boot slam into the center of her back. She whirled around and was shocked to see Larxene standing behind her. "What..." Kairi couldn't believe her eyes. The Savage Nymph was simultaneously behind and in front of her.

"Specialty of mine," Larxene giggled. "Just as lightning can split apart, I can too." Her hands sparked as more kunai appeared. "And FYI, princess..." The blonde's forms crackled with maliciousness in their eyes. "I haven't even shown you my true power yet."

* * *

"Hey, there's Leon!" Sora shouted from the sky. The two Keyblade masters finally caught up with Selphie and Leon's group.

Selphie ran up to them, worry etched on her face. "Sora! Have you seen Kairi?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, it seems that someone was after her and decided to resort to kidnapping."

Riku turned to Leon. "What's our status so far?"

Leon crossed his arms in thought. "The Heartless and Nobodies have Radiant Garden completely surrounded. It's as if they're concentrating all their forces to this particular world."

"Riku thinks that this entire battle is a distraction for something," Sora explained. "Kidnapping Kairi was only the start of their plan."

Riku shook his head. "The one thing that doesn't make sense is why they would choose to attack when almost everyone here is capable of fighting."

"Maybe they underestimated us," Olette suggested.

"The invitations for the wedding were public," Riku continued, "so whoever's behind this must have known that the guests would be able to fight back."

"But that's crazy!" Sora objected. "Security was supposed to confiscate all weapons before entering the main hall! There's no way they could've known the guests would've had their weapons!"

Riku gave him a hard look. "Sora, Goofy was in charge of security."

Sora stared back blankly. "So?"

Riku could only run his fingers down his face in annoyance. "You never did pick the brightest friends."

The entire group looked at Riku, clearly insulted. "Um...Riku? Aren't you my friend too?"

Riku's eyes widened at the realization that Sora was right. "Oh. My bad."

* * *

**BZZZTTT!** Larxene summoned thunderbolt after thunderbolt, forcing Kairi to run for her life. However, she was too preoccupied dodging that she ran right into one of Larxene's clones who wasted no time in delivering another powerful kick. The blow caught Kairi off-guard, causing her to step into a bolt's path.

"AAAAAAHHH!" she screamed. Every nerve ending seemed to be on fire as Kairi took a direct hit of electricity. As the current left her, Kairi found herself on the ground, her body involuntarily spasming and smoking.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Did that shock you?" Larxene cackled. Kairi staggered to her feet, struggling to stay conscious.

_"Kairi! Hang in there!"_ Naminé said.

Kairi shook her head as her vision returned to normal. "Note to self: "Never try shock therapy, ever," she groaned, propping herself back up with the Keyblade.

"If you think two's bad..." Larxene and her clone teleported out of sight. Kairi's eyes scanned the battlefield, bracing herself for a surprise attack. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for what happened next. Multiple clones surrounded Kairi, circling around their prey like bloodthirsty sharks. They rammed into her at lightning fast speed, pummeling the Keyblade holder from all sides. Kairi heard a small POP! as she felt her entire right arm go numb with pain. She clutched it with her left hand, knowing full well that Larxene had just dislocated her shoulder from its socket. Larxene fused herself back together, grinning with glee.

"You know, maybe you aren't cut out for the big leagues after all. You should stick to playing damsel in distress."

"Like hell," Kairi growled through gritted teeth. Larxene teleported out of view getting ready for another quick multi-blitz. "She's going to home in on my position again, isn't she?"

_"You know what they say,"_ Naminé quoted, _"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice..."_

Kairi immediately dropped into a full split. As soon as the first trace of electricity was around her, she swung the Keyblade over and around her head, thwacking all the incoming Larxene clones across their kneecaps. Now, it was Larxene's turn to hobble around.

"What's the matter, sore because you can't kick me anymore?" Kairi taunted as she stood back up. In response, Larxene whipped out her kunai and shoved them toward Kairi's face. The redhead raised her Keyblade to block, but was forced backward into a pillar. The combatants pushed against each other in a test of strength. However, Larxene was using her full weight and both hands while Kairi could only use her left arm and the pillar behind her for support.

"You're not strong enough, girl!" Larxene mocked as she pushed against Kairi's Keyblade even harder. Kairi could feel her knees start to give way to the intense pressure. "I can see the fear and doubt in your eyes. You were always the girl that everyone fawned over. Although you had your beauty and looks, you could never physically fight as well as your friends. You never had the strength or the gifted ability to fight back. All you could do was watch helplessly as the people that you cared about were taken from you." Larxene laughed again. "In the end, you're just a scared, weak little girl who can't do anything by yourself!"

Kairi knew what she had to do. She closed her eyes and opened her heart. Larxene's eyes widened in shock as Kairi started to push back with steadily increasing strength. Kairi could feel Naminé's power combine with Sora and Riku's hearts; their energy was pouring into hers. "You don't know anything about me, Larxene," Kairi said with a gentle smile. "I may not have the reckless courage and daring as Sora or the strength and wisdom that Riku has, but I possess something that's just as powerful that you'll never understand!"

With one final effort, she heaved Larxene away with her Keyblade. "My heart!" As Larxene's momentum shot her forward, Kairi pulled back her weapon and stabbed with all her might. **"TAKE THIS!"** Uncontained data bled from Larxene as the Keyblade impaled through her other side. Complete and utter disbelief was the last expression on Larxene's face before she dissolved back into data.

After Kairi found herself back in the Garden of Assemblage, she collapsed to the ground, weary and worn out. As she sat there, panting and catching her breath, Kairi raised the Keyblade over her head. **"HEAL!"** Magical bells appeared over her head and rang out a sweet chime. She could feel her shoulder pop back into place as well as all of her other injuries vanish. Her clothes remained in their disheveled and torn up state, though.

"I see why you hated her so much." Kairi sighed. "Well, it could've been worse."

_"How so?"_ Naminé asked questionably.

"I could've been wearing that flimsy dress of yours. Two snips to those straps and we'd have been..."

_"Don't...even say it, Kairi,"_ Naminé said.


	9. Pumpkin King Meets Jungle Boy

"Do you feel that?" Kairi asked. There it was, that strange, familiar sensation in her heart.

_"Yeah, I do,_" Naminé replied._ "I don't know what it is, though."_

Kairi felt something different within her. It was as if a far-off memory that had been scattered across time was breaching the forefront of her mind.

A vision flashed past her eyes: Sora with his Keyblade summoning lightning from the sky. _**"THUNDER!"**_ he cried.

Kairi shook her head. "That was Thundaga magic, right?"

_"Yeah. Maybe the battle with "Livewire" back there triggered that memory. I'm guessing you can use Thundaga now."_

"That's odd." Kairi closed her eyes in thought. "Sora never taught me how to use Thunder magic. In fact, I don't think he ever taught me a single attack spell."

_"Now that you mention it,"_ Naminé said slowly,_ "all he taught us was Magnet and Cure."_

"Well, Magnega did take awhile. Curaga wasn't so hard, though. Either way, I'll hold off on using Thundaga." Opening her eyes, she scanned the room trying to decide where to go next. "Let's try the right side again." To the immediate left of Roxas' cove was the shadowy form of a scythe. Naminé immediately started to worry.

_"Um, maybe we should choose a different one."_ Naminé said apprehensively.

Kairi sighed. "Come on, Naminé," she said wearily, "Whichever member this is, it's going to be a tough fight anyways. At this rate, we probably won't even get back to the others until next week!"

_"But there's something..."_ Kairi reached for the shadow and the bright light transported them to the same white-posted circular arena._ "...you should know."_ Naminé finished.

Kairi got into her ready stance, waiting for her opponent. Data streams appeared before her eyes, twisting and turning until the form of a long, pink-haired being took shape. The figure smiled, but seemed to radiate an aura of malicious intent. Flower petals flew around like flies, while the enemy's scythe was gripped tightly.

"Good day to you, princess," the figure greeted with a flamboyant bow. Kairi blinked, confused.

"Another woman?" Kairi wondered. "Naminé, I thought you said that Larxene was the only girl."

_"Um, Kairi?"_ Naminé still had the scared and worried tone in her voice. _"Marluxia's a guy."_

"He is?" Kairi stared at him for a moment. "Eww. And he's got flower petals flying around him. What is he, gay?"

"For the millionth time, I AM NOT GAY!" Marluxia roared. "I'm just a man that loves flowers and uses full-body shampoo and conditioner! Is that so wrong?!"

"Well, you're either gay or you're a drag queen. Now you just need to quit overusing the ladies perfume," Kairi coughed, attempting to wave the fumes away. "I mean, I can smell it from all the way over here!" She took a quick sniff. "You're using Twilight Mist #11, aren't you?"

_"Bet you he's wearing ladies lingerie right now too,"_ Naminé whispered.

"Yeah, right," Kairi laughed. "You can already see the pantyhose hiding underneath that cloak."

"That's enough!" Marluxia yelled as he brandished his scythe. Kairi readied her Keyblade. In a whirlwind of petals, the Graceful Assassin disappeared from Kairi's sight.

"Where'd he...?" Kairi quickly scanned the field for any trace of her opponent. Suddenly, she felt the black, gloved hand on her shoulder.

_"Vestri pectus est mei,"_ Marluxia whispered in Kairi's ear. She caught a whiff of a sweet flowery scent which gave her a strange, tingling sensation that seemed to penetrate into her very core. Kairi leapt away, but Marluxia already reappeared ten feet from her.

"What'd you just do?" Kairi demanded. Marluxia only laughed. Outraged, Kairi charged at him, raising the Keyblade over her head. Marluxia calmly threw his scythe toward her unguarded front with such force, Kairi's body should've been sliced in two. Feeling the icy, cold blade run straight through her torso, Kairi staggered clutching her abdomen.

_"Kairi!"_ Naminé screamed. As the scythe returned to Marluxia's hand, Kairi's eyes slowly opened in surprise. She was still in one piece.

"What?" She checked herself; there were no scratches on her. "But didn't..." Before she could finish her thought, a sharp, agonizing pain shot through her heart, bringing Kairi to her knees. Gripping her chest tightly, Kairi raised her gaze to Marluxia who only gave her a look of sadistic pleasure.

"I would prefer not to physically harm a delicate flower like you. The spell that I just whispered: your body will be unblemished from damage. However, for every cut that you take from my scythe, you will feel its wrath within the beating chambers of your heart."

"So in other words, instead of taking the damage with my body," Kairi panted, "I'm going to be taking it with my heart?"

_"Well, you have to give him points for chivalry,"_ Naminé commented.

Kairi tried to laugh, but the pain made her wince. "If this guy was really chivalrous, he wouldn't even be attacking a sixteen year-old girl with a gardening tool."

* * *

The King, Donald and Goofy had just finished escorting Queen Minnie and Lady Daisy to the safe room containing the Princesses of Heart and the other wedding guests. They were now in the process of trying to find Sora and Riku. However, Donald couldn't let go of the fact that Goofy shirked off his security duties.

"I said I'm sorry, Donald!" Goofy apologized for the umpteenth time. "But I didn't see anything suspicious on my watch!"

"How could you miss them?!" Donald yelled. "Even the metal detectors posted at the entrance were going off!"

Goofy rubbed his nose in thought. "Really? I thought they made that noise when everything was clear..."

"Will you two please stop arguing?" the King snapped. "We've got to find Sora and Riku so we can tell them what we found out about Kairi's disappearance!"

"But, your Majesty," Donald began, "are you sure the information's correct?"

"It doesn't matter," the King replied, "They have a right to know what's about to happen."

As they made their way along the Restoration Site, the Disney trio found it extremely odd that they didn't meet any Heartless or Nobodies. "Gawrsh," Goofy said. "You don't think the Heartless are all..."

"BOO!" A giant, round skull face shot out of a crevice, cackling madly. Donald jumped into Goofy's arms as both of them screamed in fright. They turned to run, but ran straight into a half-naked man in a loincloth hanging upside-down, causing them to scream even louder. The King jumped a bit, but stood his ground.

The skull's face changed into an expression of surprise. "Your majesty! Donald! Goofy! I'm so sorry about that!" Jack Skellington apologized. "We thought you were the Heartless!" Tarzan dropped from his spider-like perch, landing softly on his feet. "I've been asking our jungle friend about his stealth techniques," Jack said, his eye holes sparkling. "The way he can just appear out of nowhere...It's surprisingly terrifying enough to use for next year's Halloween!"

"Um...what exactly are you waiting around here for?" Goofy asked. Jack crossed his arms.

"I'm supposed to meet Sally. We agreed to meet here after the wedding in case we got separated."

"Welp, the last time we saw her was back at the safe room," the King explained. Jack's face lit up eagerly.

"Then that's where I'm off! Thanks!" He started heading down the path.

"Wait!" Donald yelled. Jack stopped in his tracks and turned to the rest of them. "Aren't you going to help us get rid of the Heartless and Nobodies?"

Jack waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry! I'll be back as soon as I check in on Sally!" And with that, Jack ran off.

They stood there silently, dumbfounded of what just happened. "Well, now what do we do?" Donald asked. They looked at each other for a moment before turning their gaze back to Tarzan, who sat there completely clueless. Donald shrugged. "Oh well. Tarzan, would you like to come with us?"

Tarzan stared at them for a few seconds. "&*$% #$%#* #$&#*&#$!" was his reply. Unsure of what to say to that, nobody said anything. Finally, Goofy broke the silence.

"Either he's saying that he wants to go with us or..." He scratched his head. "...he's being more foul-mouthed than Donald when he loses his temper."

Donald glared at Goofy before winding up and thwacking his staff against Goofy's shin. Goofy jumped comically around, clutching his leg in pain. "Don't you ever say that again!" Donald growled in his most dangerous tone.


	10. Kairi vs the Graceful Assassin

"I don't know how much more I can take," Kairi mumbled weakly, clutching her chest. The constant, throbbing pain in her heart had caused a clammy sweat to form across her skin.

_"Kairi, let me fight,"_ Naminé said. Kairi shook her head.

"No, I can feel that you're afraid to face him. I don't want to have to put you through that."

_"But Kairi, you can't keep fighting like this!"_ Naminé argued. _"Your heart's not going to last much longer!"_

"What's the matter, princess?" Marluxia asked, mockingly. "It seems your heart can't take the heat of battle."

Kairi collapsed onto her knees, her Keyblade arm hanging loosely by her side.

The former boss of Castle Oblivion laughed. "Then allow me to relieve you of your pain..." Marluxia raised his scythe. "...permanently." Kairi could barely summon any energy to lift the Keyblade, let alone defend herself. Before Marluxia's "Graceful Dahlia" could claim judgment, Kairi's body burst with blinding light, revealing Naminé with a troubled, yet determined expression on her face.

Marluxia jumped back in surprise. "You!"

Naminé glared at him as she got up from her knees. "It's been awhile, Marluxia."

"You dare show your face after all this time?" Marluxia enunciated, rage hanging in each syllable.

"Yes, I dare, "Lord" Marluxia," Naminé taunted. "I've been wanting to fight you for a long time."

He pointed his scythe in her direction. "Really, witch? Then why did you wait until now?"

"Because Kairi didn't want me to fight. She figured she could take you down without involving me." Naminé narrowed her eyes. "She was afraid for my self-being. And I have to thank her for that." She thrust the Keyblade in Marluxia's direction. "But I'm not afraid of you anymore, Marluxia. This is where I finally destroy this painful memory of you once and for all!"

Marluxia laughed. "Are you actually deluded enough to think you can harm me?"

Naminé smirked. "Oh, get over yourself. We both know you're not invincible. And if memory serves, I owe you a beatdown for that whole "Castle Oblivion" incident."

"If you and that traitor Axel hadn't ruined my plan, the Organization wouldn't have been reduced to coded data!" Marluxia shouted.

Naminé's eyes flickered with surprise. "Wait, you actually remember all of that?"

"Of course, I remember! We all do!" Marluxia sneered. "When our bodies were destroyed, all our memories and personalities were transferred into this virtual prison! Now we're trapped here for all eternity, testing..." He stopped himself. "On second thought, I think it's best that you find out for yourself."

_"Testing?"_ Kairi repeated. _"What's he mean by that?"_

"What did you mean by testing?" Naminé demanded.

Marluxia shook his head. "Since I have nothing else to lose, I'm not going to let my sense of chivalry get in the way of my sense of revenge." He rotated the scythe around his head. "I'll scatter your heart to the empty winds!"

* * *

Tidus' group was making their way across the Ravine Trail trying to find someone who knew where Selphie or Sora was. So far, it had been only Heartless. The Gullwings couldn't do much except flying in for a hit-and-run. Auron and Wakka were tearing through them left and right. Tidus was still inexperienced with a real sword, so he was easily impressed by Auron's ability.

"You're really good!" Tidus said to Auron. "Are you some kind of hero?"

Before Auron could reply, the unthinkable happened. Tidus accidentally cracked his sword against a cavern wall, shattering it in half. "Oh man! And it was a loan, too!"

Auron shook his head. He reached into his outfit and removed a spare sword. "Take it," he says tossing it to Tidus. "A gift from a close friend of mine."

"Are you serious?!" Tidus turned the sword curiously in his hands. "Wow, I've never seen a sword like this before in my entire life."

Auron squinted almost lazily at Tidus. "Just don't break it."

"Hey, I just thought of something," Yuna said. "Why don't we just go find the others for you? We can teleport faster than we fly."

Tidus scratched his head. "Well, I guess."

"We're on it!" Rikku chimed in excitedly. And with that the Gullwings flashed their "Charlie's Angels" pose and teleported out of sight.

"Think the others are okay?" Tidus asked Wakka.

Wakka shook his head in disbelief. "Come on, dude. You don't expect them to lose so easily, ya?"

"Besides, we've got more important concerns at the moment," Auron said.

"What do you..." Tidus began. His voice trailed off as he looked to the horizon.

Berserkers.

Auron gave Tidus a piercing look. "Irritating, I know. Or are you afraid?" He smirked. "It's all right."

Tidus only had two words for that statement: "Oh, foofie."

* * *

The arena's sky darkened as Marluxia vanished out of sight. Naminé's shoulders tensed as she constantly looked behind her. _"Is he going to cast that spell on me, too?"_ she wondered. After a few nerve-racking moments...

_"Above you!"_ Kairi warned. Naminé's head snapped upward to see Marluxia hovering a few feet above her.

"Get down from there and fight!" Naminé spat. Marluxia only chuckled as he waved his hand mysteriously.

_"Naminé, run!"_ She broke her gaze away and looked down. A pool of darkness rippled beneath her feet forcing Naminé to leap out of the way. Seconds later, the darkness erupted into a geyser of blackness. Before she could turn her attention back to Marluxia, another pool started to rapidly grow underneath her position. _"It's tracking your movements! You've got to run!"_

Naminé was so focused on dodging that she almost forgot about Marluxia. Chancing a glance upward, she was met with the sight of his scythe barreling down on her. She whipped the Keyblade out in front of her, tucking her body in to make herself a smaller target. The scythe seemed to orbit harmlessly around Naminé before vanishing. When the onslaught was done, Marluxia reappeared laughing in front of her. Naminé glared at him with pure loathing.

Suddenly, his expression changed from malicious glee to astonishment as he stared at Naminé. Feeling a slight breeze pass across her body, she looked down and saw that her dress had both straps cut and numerous rips around its body. "AAHHH! My dress!"

Marluxia ran his fingers through his thick, wavy hair. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

_"I think it was because his spell was only targeted at me,"_ Kairi reasoned. _"With you, I'm guessing that blade can actually cut you."_

"Not a bad look for a battle diva," Marluxia observed. "I think you need to show more midriff, though."

Naminé stamped her foot. "Listen, 'Lord Perv!'" she angrily shouted. "What's the deal with trying to strip me, huh?"

Marluxia chuckled. "You think that's perverted?" he asked. "You obviously haven't faced Vexen yet."

"Oh gawd, not him!" Naminé cringed. "He's still alive?!"

"In a matter of speaking."

_"Who's Vexen again?"_ Kairi asked, confused at Naminé's reaction.

"Trust me," Naminé said shuddering, "you REALLY don't want to know."

Marluxia started forward, swinging his weapon in a circular motion using a portal of darkness to sink himself into the ground. The scythe rapidly picked up speed, buzzing across the floor like a giant sawblade ready to split her in half. As it stalked around her like a shark circling its prey, Naminé braced herself.

"Your heart will become nothingness!" Marluxia cried as he popped out of the ground with the scythe over his head. Naminé planted her feet firmly and parried the blow from above with the Keyblade. While Marluxia was stunned from the impact, she spun around and kicked his outstretched hand, sending the weapon flying. With her opponent unarmed, Naminé wasted no time in giving him the beatdown he so richly deserved.

No, not with the Keyblade. With her silky, smooth, powerful legs.

Naminé's legs were a blur as she rapidly kicked him everywhere she could make contact with. Stomach, head, shin, face...she didn't care where she hit him. It just felt good to finally exact her frustrations against her former tormentor. Finally, as Marluxia staggered about, his left eye swollen, nose broken and blood draining from his ears, the scythe was heard making its return trip to earth. Naminé pirouetted into the air and caught it with her free hand. Marluxia's eyes widened in shock as Naminé twirled both the Keyblade and his scythe in her hands.

A satisfied smile appeared on the dual-wielding diva. Naminé rushed him with unleashed ferocity. Swinging both weapons with unrestrained fury, she pounded Marluxia's body with everything she had. In a spectacular finish, Naminé juggled him into the air and tossed the scythe back into him. **"IT'S OVER!"**

As the blade penetrated his person, Marluxia's form exploded into tiny data pieces, evaporating into nothingness. Bright light shined throughout the arena, the battle won. The girls blinked and found themselves back in the chamber; Marluxia's cove now a shade of pink.

"I hope my dress gets repaired as soon as I give back control over to you," Naminé said as she fingered a hole near her belly button. "I mean, sure it'd be cool to wear a two-piece outfit for once. Heck, anything would be better than this dress!"

"When we get out of this mess, we'll take Selphie and Olette to get a new wardrobe for you," Kairi replied as she felt control return to her. Opening her eyes, she was pleasantly surprised to see her entire outfit was clean and whole as if it had been professionally tailored and dry-cleaned. "Wow! This'll save a lot of change over at the laundromat!"

_"You okay?"_ Naminé asked.

"I should be asking you that." Kairi massaged her chest, relieved that it wasn't aching anymore. "It seems you had a lot of issues with the guy."

_"Hey, I was held hostage in that castle being forced to mess with your boyfriend's memories. Don't you think he deserved all of that?"_

The mention of Sora as her boyfriend reminded Kairi why she was in Radiant Garden in the first place. She sat herself down, taking the weight off of her feet. "Oh, right."

Naminé heard Kairi's depressed tone. _"What's wrong?"_

Kairi sighed as she pulled her knees in toward her chin. "I was so caught up in trying to get out of here that I forgot that when this is all over, I'm going to have to marry Sora."

_"Don't worry about it for now,"_ Naminé said gently. _"I'm sure there's a way out of it somehow. Right now, we've got more important matters to attend to."_

Kairi nodded. "Yeah, like which idiot's butt we have to kick next."


	11. Kairi, Time & Not Quite Human

"Did Sora really have to go through all of this when he was searching for me and Riku?" Kairi sighed. "Because now I'm really sorry for calling him a lazy bum. Swinging this Keyblade around is exhausting!"

_"Hey, just be glad you were "Most Athletic Student of the Year" at the academy," _Naminé said._ "I don't think most people would be up for all of this."_

"Most people aren't princesses from another world getting married to a Keyblade master." Kairi shook her arms out, hoping the circulation would ease the soreness. "Guess the good side to all of this is that it'll get my body ready for summer."

In her mind's eye, she could see Naminé crossing her arms in disbelief. _"Kairi, you already have a great-looking body."_

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"

_"Roxas told me that's what Sora thinks."_

Kairi giggled despite herself. "Really?"

_"Now he's just waiting for the day when he can see you in a bikini."_

Kairi rolled her eyes and sighed. "Aren't we all?" She stood up and brushed herself off. "Well, who's next? Are we still going right-to-left or do we just keep alternating?"

_"Let's just keep alternating,"_ Naminé said. _"It makes things more organized that way."_

"Work our way up, huh?" Kairi combed her brilliant red hair back. "Okay, that would take us to the left side, right?"

_"Right,"_ Naminé replied.

"It was the right side?" Kairi asked.

_"No, you were right, it was left."_

"So it was left."

_"Right,"_ Naminé repeated.

"The right?"

_"No, left is right,"_ Naminé said, frustration leaking into her voice.

"What?" Kairi asked in a confused tone. "So, it's the left side?"

_"Right!"_

Kairi nodded. "So, it's the right side."

_"No!"_ Naminé screamed. _"Left is right, right is wrong!"_

Kairi grinned. "I'm just kidding you, Naminé. I'm not an airhead, you know."

Now it was Naminé's turn to sigh. _"Sometimes you act more like my twin sister than my other half, Kairi."_

"We're both feeling tense right now and the moment presented itself. So sue me." To the immediate right of Larxene's kunai was the shadow of what looked like playing cards. Kairi studied it for a moment.

"Cards?" Then she remembered. "Oh yeah. It was that one guy that fought Sora that one time." She shook her head. "I can't remember the fine details, though. Most of it's a complete blank.

_"At least we go in with some knowledge, right?"_ Naminé said half-cheerfully. Kairi reached out at the symbol, cuing the bright light to envelop them once again. When the light faded, they found themselves standing at Havoc's Divide.

"Question: do you think we should name this Keyblade?" Kairi asked as she took a few practice swings.

_"Nah. We'd be just as bad as the guys if we did that,"_ Naminé replied in a conversational tone. _"Best to just wait for the official name to come out."_ Data streams began to appear out of nowhere, twisting its shape until...

Kairi pointed her Keyblade at the new enemy. "You! You're that...pirate guy!" she shouted.

Luxord gave her a crafty grin. "I'd rather we just skip the formalities." He snapped his fingers, summoning a transparent screen that hung in the air. After a few seconds, the display lit up showing two bars: Kairi's and Luxord's.

"Let's play a game, shall we?" He pointed toward the rapidly decreasing bars. "Those bars represent our time limits. The first to run out of time is the loser."

Kairi kept her stare locked on Luxord. "What're the stakes?"

Luxord shook his head. "What else?" Then in a puff of smoke, Kairi felt her entire body freeze up. "Existence!"

Next thing Kairi knew, she was trapped in the form of a die. As she struggled to make her body move, Luxord chuckled in a sadistic manner. "If you think I'm going to fold," he taunted, "then you're not playing with a full deck!" Two human-sized playing cards appeared from his hands which started to circle around him like a propeller.

If Kairi could, she would've rolled her eyes. _"Geez, is this guy from the "Royal Flush Gang" or something?"_ she thought as Luxord leaped at her, the cards whirling around him like a sawblade.

* * *

Sora and Riku were making their way through countless Heartless and Nobodies. Running directly behind them were Hayner, Pence and Olette. Leon and Selphie were at the very back covering the group from behind.

"So, what's the plan?" Sora asked as he glided slightly above the group.

"The Heartless and Nobodies seem to be concentrating their forces near that mining shaft preventing anyone to enter," Riku said. "It's as if they're guarding something."

"The mining shaft?" It took a few seconds for Sora to figure out what Riku was talking about. "But that's where Organization XIII's hidden data's located!"

"And that's where we'll find Kairi. But," Riku gave Sora a knowing look, "even you and I can't just barge in there without some force of our own. Which is exactly why we need to find the others."

Sora was about to argue, but then something in the distance caught his eye. He squinted, trying to make out what he was seeing. As they got closer, Sora realized that it was a group of Dusks and Neoshadows attacking two bystanders. One was a girl with long, flowing red hair. She was being guarded by a young, well-kept man wearing a familiar-looking blue coat and wielding a dueling sword.

"Riku!" Sora shouted as he landed smoothly from his glide. "They look like they need our help!"

Riku nodded. "Right! Sora, Selphie! Take care of the Heartless!" he ordered. "Leon, you're with me on the Nobodies!"

Sora started forward, but Selphie yelled, "Sora! Wait!"

He looked at her as if she was crazy. "But what about...?" Sora's voice trailed off as she closed her eyes.

Selphie stood silent for a moment, holding her nunchucks together in front of her. Then without warning, she made ritualistic movements as if she were a baton cheerleader. White angelic wings materialized behind the Heartless lifting them upward and out of sight.

Sora looked at her in shock. "What was and how did you do that?"

Selphie smiled. "It's something that I've been practicing while you and Riku were away."

Meanwhile, Riku and Leon jumped into the center of the crowd of Dusks with their blades drawn.

"Think you can handle this many?" Leon asked.

Riku snorted. "Please. I'm just worried if you can keep up, old man."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "I've forgotten who I'm dealing with." Together, Leon and Riku charged up their energy and obliterated the opposition with a combination of their Firagas.

After the smoke cleared, Sora held out a helping hand to the red-headed girl. "Are you all right, miss?" Then he did a double-take. "Wait, Ariel?! Is that you?"

"Sora!" Ariel hugged him enthusiastically. "It's great to see you again!"

Sora's face was a picture of shock. "I thought you couldn't walk any more ever since..." He shrugged. "Well, you know."

"Oh, this?" She lifted up the hem of her dress to reveal her human legs. "Daddy used his trident to let me live on the land with Eric!" Her smile dropped slightly. "Of course, now I can't really fight with them. I never realized how hard it was for humans to defend themselves without fins."

Sora grinned. "Don't worry. You get used to it." Then he noticed the other kids were staring at her. "Ariel used to be a mermaid," he explained. Olette and Selphie's expressions changed to pure delight.

"Wow! A real mermaid?!" they squealed excitedly. Ariel giggled. While they started bombarding her with questions about the aquatic life, Sora turned to Ariel's companion.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked, helping up the stranger.

"Yes. Thank you, Sora."

Sora looked at the man, confused. "I'm sorry, but..."

The stranger laughed. "Yes, of course. You probably don't recognize me in this form. You knew me once," The man deepened his voice and snarled, "as THE BEAST!"

Sora jumped back in surprise. "Whoa! I guess you and Belle finally broke the spell, huh?"

"Yes. And I'm truly grateful to her and to you for helping me through my troubled time." The Prince looks at the sword he was holding. "I guess I'm not fully used to being human again. I forgot I can't charge in blindly anymore."

"What exactly are you two doing all the way out here?" Riku asked.

Ariel's face started to match her hair color. "Actually, it was my idea. I wanted to help out, but I forgot that I no longer had my fins."

"And I followed Ariel because I thought she wouldn't be able to fight by herself," the Prince added. He hung his head in disappointment. "Turns out that I wasn't exactly any help either."

"No worries," Sora replied gently. "At least you're both okay now."

The Prince looked worried. "Belle, is she okay?" he asked.

Riku shook his head. "Don't worry about her. Belle and the other Princesses of Heart are in the safe room."

"What exactly is going on?" Ariel asked. In response, Riku motioned for the others to follow him.

"Come on. We'll explain on the way." And with that, the group broke into a run.

"Seems like yesterday that we were fighting against each other back in the castle," the Prince said to Riku.

"Hey, I was under the influence of darkness," Riku replied. "Sorry about that by the way."

"How do humans run on these weak-looking things anyway?" Ariel asked as she struggled to keep up.

"It takes practice," Olette said. "Learn how to float before learning how to swim."

"If you think that's bad," the Prince chimed in, "you should try running with paws. It makes gripping things a real pain."


	12. Another Side & A Far Off Memory

"You know, I never liked playing games that much," Kairi said. "Like that one time last year while Sora and Riku were away. Selphie threw a girl's only party for our class and we ended up playing 'Truth or Dare.'" Kairi wobbled a bit, but she remained rooted to the spot. "It was horrible. I stupidly chose dare. Next thing I know, I'm over on the diving board at the academy's pool."

It took Naminé a few seconds to realize what she was getting at. _"You were dared to go skinny-dipping, weren't you?"_

Kairi shuddered. "That wasn't the worst part."

_"Oh?"_

"The worst part was that it was winter, rainy, and typhoon season."

_"Ouch."_ Naminé said with a sympathetic tone. _"You might've caught hypothermia! At least there were no boys around, right?"_

"Fortunately, it was raining so hard, visibility was almost null. That and the fact the pool was self-heated."

_"Always a silver lining, huh?"_

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, a couple of the girls decided to steal my clothes while I was in there."

_"Oh my gawd, that's awful! Did you at least get them back for that?"_

Kairi giggled. "Let's just say that those girls will never look at a fire hydrant the same way ever again."

_"Well, look at it this way. At least Sora and Riku don't know about it."_

"Somehow I think Riku knows about it. Don't know how, but as long as he doesn't tell Sora..." Kairi's thought trailed off. "Um...shouldn't I have gotten hit by now?" Indeed, Luxord's spinning card attack was not as effective as she thought it would be. Despite the threat Luxord's attack would've posed, the cards kept propelling him harmlessly over Kairi due to her shrunken form. Kairi wasn't damaged, but the spectacle was wasting her time bar. _"How long do I have to stay like this?"_ As soon as the thought formed in her mind, she felt sensation returning to her limbs as she transformed back into her human self.

She shook off the numbness. "Alright, now back to business." Raising her Keyblade, Kairi charged at Luxord. With a wave of his hand, the cards that were circling around him flew off and homed in on Kairi, halting her attack. "What's with these cards stalking me?" The Gambler of Fate chuckled.

_"When in the chronicles of wasted time_  
_I see descriptions of the fairest wights,_  
_And beauty making beautiful old rhyme_  
_In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights."_

Kairi stared. "What in the world was that?"

"Shakespearean Sonnet 106," Luxord explained. "It's a great read and I like to expand my vocabulary that way."

Kairi backed away from the spinning cards, until she almost lost her footing at the edge of the arena. Glancing behind her shoulder, she could make out the ground forty stories below. With nowhere to run, she either had to take the attack or jump.

_"This is going to leave one huge paper cut,"_ Naminé commented.

Kairi grit her teeth as the cards buzzed closer. "Had to be Shakespeare. It just had to be freakin' Shakespeare!"

* * *

"This is awful!" Queen Minnie cried. "Why did this have to happen on such a happy occasion?" She was with Lady Daisy and the other wedding guests in the safe room away from all the danger. Staying as bodyguards were all of Sora's formerly summoned allies, excluding Simba, Peter Pan & Tinker Bell. Genie was busy entertaining the kids with his impressions. Chicken Little and Mushu were swapping stories.

Since they couldn't go outside, everyone didn't know how the battle was taking place. The most recent visitor they had was Jack Skellington, who had only stopped by to check in on Sally. He told them what he knew and then dashed off to help the others.

Daisy patted the Queen's shoulder reassuringly. "It's alright. These things happen." Minnie only hung her head in sadness. "If you think about it, this interruption is like a blessing."

Minnie raised her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Daisy placed her hand under her chin in thought. "Well, from what I heard from the Maid of Honor and the Flower Girl, Princess Kairi didn't seem so enthusiastic about the marriage."

The Queen looked at her in surprise. "Really? That's the first I've heard of it." As she was speaking, Stitch scuttled across the ceiling in his spider-like fashion. "I thought the Princess loved Sora!"

"She does, but you know how it is at that age. Neither of them have even reached adulthood yet. Putting the fate of Radiant Garden and the other worlds on their shoulders must be a terrible burden."

Stitch finally found his target underneath him. Bambi was trotting around, blissfully unaware that Experiment 626 had let go of the ceiling and was diving straight for his back.

"Cowabunga!" Stitch hollered gleefully as he dropped directly onto Bambi's back. As the deer thrashed around with Stitch riding him like a rodeo clown, Daisy walked up to a window on the far side of the room and gazed soulfully toward the horizon.

"So the only reason she agreed to this marriage was because of the letter?" Minnie asked.

Daisy nodded. "Yes, I believe so. That's probably why Sora went along with it, too."

"Oh dear. Ruling a kingdom is one thing, but having to deal with the entire universe..." The Queen shook her head. "I can't even begin to imagine what it's like for those two."

A tense silence hung between the two ladies of royalty. The other summons were trying desperately to remove Stitch's perch from Bambi. Eventually Dumbo snagged his trunk around the little alien and started slamming him comically against the wall.

Queen Minnie looked out the window, following Daisy's gaze toward the horizon. "Still, I hope those boys will be alright."

* * *

_"Hey, you're that boy who helped me earlier! Sora, right?"_

_"Yeah, that's me! And you're that new girl...uh, Kari, right?"_

_"Close. It's Kairi."_

_"Oh, right. Sorry about that."_

_"It's okay. So, Sora, why exactly are you somersaulting on the ground like that?"_

_"This? It's a new technique I've been practicing! You know how it's harder to hit something that's small and moving, right? Well, if I tuck my body in like this and roll, attacks might pass right over me."_

_"But who would attack you? This seems like a peaceful village."_

_"Well, me and a few other kids hang out on that island over there. We sometimes go on adventures, goof around, get into fights..."_

_"That sounds awful! Violence doesn't solve anything!"_

_"What? Oh, that's not what I meant! I meant we get into PRETEND fights. No one really gets hurt."_

_"I see. So, that somersault you were doing is supposed to prevent you from getting hurt?"_

_"Yup! Doesn't it look cool?"_

_"But why not just sidestep attacks like that friend of yours does?"_

_"Who, Riku? Nah, he's got his own way of fighting and I have mine. I can't expect to beat him with his own techniques, right?"_

_"Hey, Sora?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Do you think you can teach me how to fight too?"_

_"Uh...I don't know, Kairi..."_

_"Please, Sora?"_

_"..."_

* * *

"Are you really worthy to wield such a powerful weapon as the Keyblade?" Luxord asked. "At least Sora seemed to be a worthy opponent."

Kairi could feel her temper flaring up again. "I'm not worthy, huh?" The cards were only a few feet away. _"Sora's got his Dodge Roll, Riku's got his Dodge Leap,"_ Kairi thought, _"so why can't I have my own dodge move?"_ She stretched out her arms in front of her and dived underneath the cards, her nose just inches from the floor. As soon as she passed them, she slapped the ground with her hands, pushed her body into a handstand and immediately flipped herself into standing position.

_"Think I'll call that my Dodge Flip,"_ Kairi thought, smiling to herself. She returned her focus back on Luxord and charged again. The spinning cards trailed behind her, but they couldn't match her speed. Luxord's face was expressionless.

"Look closely..." Before Kairi could reach her target, Luxord transformed himself into a card. The cards behind Kairi disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared at Luxord's sides. In the blink of an eye, the cards flattened face-down on the ground and started shuffling themselves.

"What kind of attack is this?" The cards finally stood upward and started to circle around her like moons in orbit. Kairi could only see the back of the cards, unable to tell which one was Luxord.

_"We have to touch the card that Luxord's hiding in with the Keyblade,"_ Naminé said.

Kairi shrugged. "I guess I'll just attack them all!" She leapt at one of the stray cards.

_"No, wait! You don't know what'll happen if you attack the wrong card!"_ But Kairi was already in mid-swing. As soon as her Keyblade touched the card in front of her, the card flipped itself to face her. She caught a glimpse of a fiery-red spiral before the card exploded in her face, temporarily blinding her.

Tears blurring her vision, Kairi lashed out wildly, desperately trying to hit anything. She eventually made contact with Luxord's card, causing the remaining one to disappear.

"Lucky guess, princess," Luxord said before flipping himself back into his card form. And in another puff of smoke, new cards were summoned to the field.

_"Six cards this time,"_ Naminé observed. _"Come on, Kairi, you can do it!"_

As her vision returned to normal, Kairi found herself surrounded by more cards. Since she had been blinded, she had no idea which card was Luxord. She intensely focused on them, trying to figure out if there was some telltale behavior that would give him away. In her peripheral vision, she noticed a card on her left was vibrating slightly.

"It was this one!" Kairi flipped the card with her Keyblade. She knew the card was wrong as soon as it showed its face: a clock. Glancing at the time bar, she was horrified to see that the rate of her time bar decreasing had sped up. "Oh no."

"Don't squander your time," Luxord's voice taunted from one of the surrounding cards.

Kairi tried to pick out the card she heard the voice from. She thrust her Keyblade at the card, not sure if she guessed correctly.

She was pleasantly surprised to see the other four cards disappear, leaving the gambler hobbling a bit.

"You play the game quite well," Luxord said as he summoned a total of ten cards this time.

"Again?!" Kairi was getting extremely ticked off now. As the pack of cards circled around her, she took one look at them and said, "You know what? Screw it." She raised her Keyblade. **"THUNDER!"** Lightning rained down from the sky, instantly obliterating every single card that was not Luxord.

Luxord brushed the leftover ash off his cloak. "Hey! That's grand-scale cheating!" he coughed.

"I'm through playing games with you!" Kairi shouted, pointing her Keyblade. "Why don't you actually fight me yourself?!"

Luxord smirked. "Well, well, well." The sky darkened as more cards appeared in his hands. "Look who's on top of the game!" Kairi braced herself as the cards flew out in every direction, scattering themselves onto the floor.

"What is this, 52-card pick-up?" Instead of responding, Luxord changed himself into his card form and fell flat on his face. Kairi ran up to the card that she had seen her opponent in and thrust the Keyblade into its body.

Nothing happened. Sweeping some stray hair off her face, Kairi scanned the field. "Where is he?"

_"Kairi, I just went through Sora's memories again,"_ Naminé said. _"Luxord can transfer himself from card to card. That means he can pop out from under any of them."_

"Any of them, huh?" Kairi rolled her eyes and sighed. "Ten bucks say he's going to appear right behind me." Without turning her head, Kairi took the Keyblade, tucked it beneath her arm and stabbed blindly behind her.

"Hoooph!" The sound of her blade making contact with Luxord's abdominals felt extremely satisfying to Kairi's ears. The cards that littered the playing field disappeared in puffs of smoke. With the wind knocked out of him, the crafty gambler staggered around like a drunk.

Kairi looked up at the display and was astonished to see that Luxord's time bar was completely depleted. Luxord clutched his stomach in pain.

_"Yet do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,"_ he recited, _"My love shall in my verse ever live young." (Sonnet 19)_

"Will you shut the $# *& % up, already?!" Kairi roared as she slammed her Keyblade straight across Luxord's head, leaving a beheaded data body that dissolved back into code.

Anger and adrenaline were still coursing through her as she reappeared in the Garden of Assemblage. Kairi leaned up against a wall, attempting to calm herself down.

"I'm sorry. I think Shakespearean sonnets are romantic and all," Kairi huffed, "but anyone who recites it just to show off deserves a can of Whoop-A 55."


	13. Kairi, Boys & Jack Meets Jack

"Did you feel that?" Kairi pressed her hand against her chest. "It's that weird feeling again."

_"You're right,"_ Naminé agreed, _"it feels slightly stronger, though."_

A thought occurred to Kairi. "You don't think someone's messing with my memories, do you?"

_"What makes you say that?"_

Kairi crossed her arms in thought. "I remember Sora said he felt the same thing when you were messing with his."

_"No, that's not possible,"_ Naminé immediately replied. _"As far as I know, I'm the only one who has this type of power. And you can't tamper with someone's memories just like that. It's a long and subtle process."_

"So, it's possible?" Kairi asked, worry starting to creep into her voice.

_"Like I said, it can't be or else I'd know about it."_

"What do you mean?"

_"I may be merged with you again, but I've retained my own memories and thoughts. Although the process may affect you, I'd know what your true memories are."_ Naminé would've been smiling if she had a body. _"Just think of me as storage backup for your memories."_

"So, even if someone were to mess with my memories," Kairi paraphrased, "they can't mess with yours?"

_"Exactly."_ Kairi stood silent for a moment. She walked up to one of the cascading waterfalls, extended an arm out to cup some water and splashed some of it on her face.

"I don't know how Sora does it." Kairi stretched her arms over her head, feeling her spine crack into alignment. "Going from one battle to the next. When does he ever get some rest?"

_"Well, he did sleep for about a year,"_ Naminé said. _"I'd think he'd be full of energy after a nap that long."_

Kairi walked over to their next target: a shadow of a strange, yet familiar object. She leaned forward for a closer look. "What is this supposed to be?"

_"It looks like a weird test tube or something."_ Naminé gasped. _"You don't think it's Vexen, do you? I mean, he's a scientist after all."_

Kairi shook her head. "I don't know who Vexen is, but this looks more like a guitar than a test tube."

_"A guitar?"_ Naminé stared at the shape through Kairi's eyes. _"Now that you mention it..."_

"Well, let's get this over with," Kairi sighed as she reached out to touch the object.

When the light cleared, Kairi immediately felt a sense of familiarity with the environment. "Hey! We're back in Radiant Garden!"

Naminé wasn't convinced. _"No, if that were true, then there should be other battles taking place right now."_ Indeed, other than the occasional breeze howling, the area was eerily silent...

Data streams shot out of the void forming their next opponent: a blond, geeky-looking kid with a crew-cut. Kairi stared him down like any other dangerous opponent. Her piercing glare made him cringe back a few steps.

Kairi waited for her opponent to make the usual taunt or psychologically damaging insult she'd come to expect. So she was taken completely off guard when the guy winked at her and smiled.

"Hey, you're looking vivacious," the stranger greeted cheerfully.

Kairi looked at him as if he were crazy. "Naminé, who is this kook?"

_"Not sure. Sora's memories say that this guy's Demyx,"_ Naminé quoted. _"He met him back at Olympus Coliseum and during the Hollow Bastion assault."_

_"He seems kinda...young,"_ Kairi thought.

_"Remember that a Nobody doesn't necessarily look like their original form,"_ Naminé reminded her. _"Me and Roxas are proof of that. Besides,"_ she added, _"I think he's kinda cute."_

Kairi's eyes widened. "Are you serious? You actually think he's cute?"

_"What's wrong with thinking another guy's cute?"_ Naminé huffed defensively.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Um...what about Roxas? You know, your soulmate?"

_"Like you should talk. I've seen you eyeing Riku."_

"What?!" Kairi reddened a little. "That...that doesn't mean anything!"

_"Uh huh. Admit it. You sometimes thought he was a lot cooler than Sora,"_ Naminé teased.

"Well, yeah," Kairi stammered, "he may be serious and all, but Riku doesn't have Sora's sense of humor. Not to mention, Sora's got that cute, adorable dim-wittedness he always has." She shook her head in disbelief. "Wait, why am I arguing with you about this?"

Naminé giggled. _"Consider that payback for the whole direction thing earlier."_ Kairi turned her attention back on her opponent.

"A girl, huh?" Demyx gave the red-head an up-and-down. "This might actually be easy for once."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, anger seeping into her voice.

Demyx shrugged. "Oh nothing. It's just that I've been getting beat up by a bunch of real tough people recently. I mean, there's that boyfriend of yours," he started counting on his fingers, "that bird with the speech impediment, the suspenders guy on two legs, the Yoda wannabe with the ears, Xigbar, the Accessory shop owner..."

"I'm starting to almost feel sorry for this guy," Kairi muttered. "Emphasis on 'almost'."

"...that big, scary dog with three heads, Sephiroth, those chipmunks, the freaky chick with the giant shruiken..."

_"You know,"_ Naminé said, _"I'm thinking this guy used to get beat up even before he became a Nobody."_

"...that guy with the spiky hair, Sea-Salt ice cream, a plumber, a hedgehog, some guy called "Nomura"..."

"Shut up, already!" Kairi snapped. "I don't want to hear how pathetic you are!"

_"Besides, a couple of them are from the wrong game platform."_ Naminé chipped in.

Kairi ignored her. "What does me being a girl have to do with anything?"

"What?" Demyx scratched his head. "I mean everyone hits so hard! You just look easy."

"Oh, he didn't just..." Kairi tried to bite back the insult that was boiling inside her.

She failed. "Yeah? Well, the eighties called. They want their mullet back!"

Demyx's eyes widened. "Now that's just plain rude!"

Kairi shook her head. "Just give it a rest! I've only known you for five minutes and you already seem like a complete wuss."

"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance," Demyx said, wagging his finger.

"You're one to talk!" Kairi shot back. "You just said that it'd be easy to take me down because I'm a girl." She pointed at Demyx with the Keyblade. "So don't start preaching me about appearances."

Demyx was silent for a moment. Then he dropped his playful demeanor and growled, "Silence, girl." He raised his arm into the air, water appearing out from underneath his feet. Flowing upward into the palm of his hand, the water formed into his weapon: a sitar. Demyx twirled it around a few times before pointing at Kairi. "Just thought of the perfect piece to play with your defeat."

Demyx strung a few chords from his sitar. "Dance, water, dance!" Next thing Kairi knew, she was surrounded by water clones that looked exactly like Demyx. "Got thirty seconds, girlfriend!" The clones started to pulsate with a wicked-looking light. "Or else the next song that'll be playing is at your funeral!"

* * *

Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, ran as fast as his spindly legs would carry him. "Now that I know Sally's safe, I've gotta catch up with the others! Those fellows need my help!"

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Captain Jack Sparrow running the other way. The two collided with a thunderous crash. Jack Skellington rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that was unexpected." As he stood brushing himself off, he finally got a good look at what he crashed into.

"I'm so sorry about that! Are you okay, sir?" Jack Skellington extended a hand to the fallen pirate. Sparrow took one look at the skeletal hand and decided he could help himself up.

"Thank you, but it takes more than a bump like that to harm a pirate captain!"

"Oh my!" Skellington's eyes grew rounder with wonderment. "A pirate you say?"

The captain brushed himself off. "That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, if you please." He looked at the Halloween Town denizen with pure curiosity. "I've been around the seven seas, but I've never seen anyone like you before."

"Forgive me," Jack Skellington bowed, "I've forgotten to introduce myself. Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King!" On the last syllable, he immediately went into his scariest pose, causing Jack Sparrow to leap back a few steps.

"Really? Another Jack?" Sparrow shook his head. "At least it's not a monkey this time...""

"By the way," Jack Skellington began, "what exactly is that you're carrying?"

In the crook of one of Sparrow's arms was a jar of dirt. "Just something I carry around for good luck. Never you mind."

"So where are you off to, Mr. Sparrow?" the Pumpkin King asked enthusiastically.

"That's CAPTAIN Sparrow! And I wouldn't know." Sparrow shifted the jar to his other arm. "Ever since that Laddie fellow stole my compass, I've been trying to find somewhere safe away from all these blasted Heartless." He shrugged. "There's no reason why I should get involved with matters like these."

"Because they would do the same for you?" Jack Skellington guessed.

"Right you are! But would I do the same for them? I AM a pirate after all."

"Hmmm..." Skellington scratched his cheek in thought. "But isn't there something about honor in the pirate's code?"

Sparrow gave him a sharp look. "How do you know about the Pirate's Code?"

"I...guessed?"

The captain went silent for a moment. Then he said, "You've got a point there." He brandished his sword. "Alright, as a man of honor, I'll help get rid of those little buggers..."

"Great! Mr. Sparrow, we're off!" Jack Skellington ran ahead before Jack Sparrow could finish his sentence.

"...for a price," Sparrow finished. But with his only listener out of earshot, he had no choice but to run after him. "And that's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow!" he muttered.


	14. Materia Hunter Strikes Again!

"Any thoughts, Naminé?" Kairi felt slightly apprehensive as the water clones danced to Demyx's haunting melody.

_"There's only one thing to do,"_ Naminé replied, _"ATTACK!"_

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Kairi targeted the nearest clone and sliced the Keyblade through its thin permeable skin. The clone burst like a balloon, drenching her.

She spat out some water that got in her mouth. "Great, now my underwear's soaked," Kairi pouted. She rounded on Demyx. "Do you know how hard it is to dry cotton clothing?!"

_"That's the least of our problems,"_ Naminé said. _"Just shake it off and keep going!"_

Kairi shook her head angrily. "Forget this! I'm taking him down!" She leapt into the air and barreled down on her opponent. Despite its power, the Keyblade couldn't penetrate the invisible barrier surrounding Demyx. He didn't even flinch.

"Nice try, princess!" Demyx taunted, still absorbed in plucking the strings. "But as long as my water clones are around, you can't hit me!"

_"Kairi, hurry!"_ Naminé shouted. _"You have to destroy these things, now!"_ Kairi bared her teeth and started attacking the clones left and right. As soon as the last clone was destroyed, she whirled back to Demyx.

"Now to..." Kairi began. Before she could continue, Demyx started to string another melody.

"Dance, water, dance!" More clones materialized around him. "Ten in thirty seconds was way too easy. Let's amp it up, shall we?" This time, fifty water clones surrounded her.

"I knew this guy couldn't really fight," Kairi muttered. "He's just hiding behind these stupid clones!"

_"Either that or he's toying with us,"_ Naminé said. _"There has to be a faster way!"_

"What else can we..." Kairi stopped in her tracks. "Wait a minute..." The idea just popped into her head. She raised the Keyblade over her head. "This better work."

**"GATHER!"** Kairi's Magnega orb appeared, sucking in any clone that dared to dance in its presence. **"THUNDER!"** Lightning tore through the sky, ripping apart the captives within the sphere's orbit. Kairi spammed her spells, destroying the majority of the clones until...

**"THUNDER!"** Kairi shouted. But nothing happened. "Wha...**THUNDER!"** She swung her Keyblade around wildly. **"THUNDER! THUNDER!"** Kairi shook her head. "What's going on?"

_"Kairi, you're out of magic!"_ Naminé explained. _"You have to wait for it to charge up again!"_

"Ten clones left," Kairi panted as she dashed toward the nearest target.

"Ten seconds!" Demyx sang. Kairi's composure was starting to crumble as she realized that she might actually lose this fight.

_"Use your opponent's strength against them!"_ Naminé cried.

Kairi's Keyblade tore through another double. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

_"I don't know! That's the only thing that came to mind!"_

"But..." An image of Sora doing a "Wild Dance" flashed through her mind. Kairi's body trembled and it had nothing to do with being soaked.

As creepy and disgusting as it felt, she grabbed one of the water clones. It felt like a water balloon getting ready to burst. "Don't think about it, just do it," Kairi chanted to herself. Feeling silly and stupid at the moment, she gripped onto the struggling clone and started swinging it above her head like a lasso.

To her surprise, the technique actually worked for her. With two seconds to spare, she eliminated all of the clones. Kairi brushed some wet hair out of her eyes as she shifted her focus back on Demyx. "You jerk! Do you seriously know how uncomfortable this is? It feels like I wet myself or something!" She charged like a bullet train off-track at the Melodious Nocturne.

_"I can't believe you just said that out loud,"_ Naminé sighed. Before she could get within five feet of Demyx, powerful geysers erupted in front of Kairi.

"It's just water, right?" Kairi smirked. "What's the worst that can happen, I get soaked even more?" She ran blindly at the wall of geysers protecting Demyx.

**THWHAM!** Kairi felt the geysers' awesome pressure send her flying into the air.

Demyx laughed. "C'mon! I thought you'd have at least hit me once by now!" Kairi pounded her fist on the ground in frustration as she stared daggers at her opponent.

"This guy..." Kairi tried to regain her bearings and tried to prop herself up. "...is SO dead!"

Demyx hummed and strummed almost serenely. "Got you now!" Kairi was confused for the moment before she realized what was happening. She whipped her head around and realized that her opponent had summoned two walls of geysers that surrounded her in a pincer-type formation. The walls of water rapidly closed in on Kairi as she jumped back to her feet. Not knowing what else to do, she reacted by attempting an Aerial Dodge through one of the walls, but ended up being blasted sky-high again.

As she landed with a dull crack, Kairi couldn't help but think, _"And here I thought water was the softest material there is."_

* * *

Aerith and Cid finally made it to Ansem's Computer where Yuffie was waiting for them.

"What took you guys so long?" Yuffie greeted.

"Had a few roadblocks," Cid replied, "but nothing we couldn't handle."

"Has Tron been able to get the security system back online yet?" Aerith asked.

Yuffie nodded. "He's been working on it since the wedding disruption." She pointed toward the computer screen. "He should be done any moment now."

At soon as she finished her sentence, the alarm rang out.

"Greetings, friends!" Tron said. "I've just finished repairing the security grid! It should be active as we speak."

"Thank you, Tron," Aerith said. "We really appreciate this!"

"It's no problem. We're friends after all."

"Speaking of problems," Cid began, "has there been any trouble on your end?"

"Actually," Tron replied in a confused tone, "there hasn't been any anomalies since this event began."

"It's too bad you can't be here, Tron." Yuffie said. "We could definitely use all the help we could get."

"It's interesting you should mention that," Tron said. After he said that, the digitizer started to hum to life.

"Tron, what's going on?" Aerith asked. In response, the digitizer fired its scanning beam. Something was being materialized right in front of their eyes. After a few seconds, it was obviously human-shaped, but no one that looked familiar. One look at the stranger and it was painfully obvious that he wasn't from around this world.

"Greetings, friends!" the stranger said. It took a few moments for them to place the familiar voice.

"TRON?!" Aerith, Yuffie and Cid yelled in unison. Tron smiled.

"I want to help you Users fight," he explained. "I've done all I can from inside."

"It's great to finally meet you in person, Tron!" Yuffie said as she hugged him enthusiastically.

"So, what's the plan?" Cid asked.

"May I suggest that we meet up with our other friends?" Tron said.

"Great idea, but..." Aerith's face was etched with worry. "What do we do about the other Heartless and Nobodies? I need time to recover my power and Cid's airship had to land for repairs."

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Cid looked extremely pleased with himself. "I've got our secret weapon in case we get in trouble!" He reached into his pocket, eager to flaunt the goods. After a few seconds, his grin changed into an expression of confusion. "Wait," Cid patted down his pockets. "where'd all my Materia go?"

Yuffie grabbed Tron's hand. "C'mon, Tron! Time to go!" Before Cid could react, Yuffie threw down a flash bomb, resulting in her and Tron disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Doggone it, Yuffie!" Cid began chasing after her out the door. "I was saving those Materia for Cloud!"

Aerith giggled. "Poor Cid. At least I still have my Holy Materia." She reached into her braided hair expecting to find her special Materia. Her eyes widened as she discovered that it was gone too. "Yuffie!" she yelled before giving chase as well.

* * *

Kairi swung her Keyblade in a downward arc, interrupting Demyx's playing. She was taken completely by surprise when he raised his sitar and blocked her attack.

"I guess we underestimated each other," Demyx grunted as he pushed back as hard as he could. Shoving Kairi off of him, he slammed his sitar into her side, sending her reeling. "You know, I kinda like you," the musician said, "in a respectful enemy type of way. I mean, if I wasn't being forced to kill you, I'd be asking if you wanted to hang out."

Kairi clutched her side in pain. "You've gotta be kidding me," she muttered.

Demyx twirled the sitar in a flamboyant manner and started to play furiously. Giant water bubbles formed up above and started raining down from the sky. Kairi leapt up to her feet and started to run, but a couple of water orbs slammed her back into the ground, soaking her even further.

Looking like a drenched alley rat and feeling the need for a warm shower, Kairi staggered back to her feet. "Is my magic recharged yet?" she asked Naminé.

_"It needs a few more minutes,"_ Naminé replied. Kairi shook her head.

"I can't wait! This guy's seriously ticking me off! And if I hear him say..." Kairi began.

"Dance, water, dance!" Demyx strummed his sitar again. Ninety-nine water clones materialized, lining the area's edge. "Can't attack me now!" he laughed.

Kairi let out a yell of frustration and annoyance. "Okay! That's it!" She stomped straight up to Demyx who was humming to himself.

_"Kairi, what are you doing?"_ Naminé asked. Kairi glared at Demyx, fuming with anger. He barely glanced up at her.

"Running out of time, princess! And your attacks won't hit me while my clones are here!"

Kairi stood silent for a moment. "My attacks can't hit you, huh?" Then without warning, Kairi's hands shot out at Demyx's sitar and ripped it out of his grasp.

"Hey! What are you...?" Kairi held his weapon straight out in front of her and with a quick jerk over her knee, she snapped his sitar in two.

The water clones instantly evaporated into mist. As she threw the splintered halves away while still maintaining her glare, Demyx stood dumbfounded. "Wait...but...you can't..." he stammered. Kairi made the motion of rolling up her sleeves.

Demyx's eyes widened as she started tapping the Keyblade against her palm in a menacing manner. The last words out of his mouth were, "I knew they were sending the wrong..."


	15. A Stronger Doubt

Kairi leaned behind the crevices of a cove in the off chance that someone would catch her in her undressed state. She had quickly stripped off the majority of her outfit and was now squeezing water out of her skirt.

"Seriously, I wish I had my purse on me," Kairi said. "Maybe I could've used my cell phone and told someone where I was."

_"Wishful thinking. But your phone only works on Destiny Islands,"_ Naminé replied. _"You're definitely out of its service range."_

"Well, I definitely could've used the hand warmer." Kairi started wringing out her socks. "Or at least a comb. Do you know how hard it is to keep my hair straight like this?"

_"Maybe you should think of changing your hairstyle,"_ Naminé suggested. Then she changed her mind. _"On second thought, guys always seem to go for the girls that just let their hair down. Wonder why that is?"_

Kairi began airing out her undershirt, exposing her skin to the cool, humid environment. "I don't know. Maybe guys think that with the hair up, girls look reserved. But with the hair down, they look like they've got nothing to hide."

Naminé pondered her reasoning for a few seconds. _"Maybe. Either that or they're just a bunch of overly critical dorkwads."_

"I could go for a warm shower right about now," Kairi said dreamily. As she held her undershirt in her hands, she closed her eyes and started to imagine the warm, pleasurable rush of water washing over her. Her muscles relaxed as all her aches and pains just seemed to melt away. A smile started to form on her lips as a feeling of blissful contentment filled her body.

_"Um, Kairi?"_ Naminé's voice echoed in the back of her mind.

"I'll be out in a minute," Kairi mumbled softly. Naminé sighed.

_"Okay, that's enough daydreaming,"_ she said sternly. _"Just put your clothes back on before...Hey! There's Sora!"_

Kairi's eyes snapped open and quickly covered herself up. "Where?!" she squeaked, panicking. She took a quick peek around the room before she realized that Naminé was giggling. Kairi rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's real mature, Naminé," she huffed, pulling her top back on.

_"Hey, you needed a reality check, girl,"_ Naminé laughed. _"Besides, if you keep standing around naked, you're going to catch a cold."_

"Sorry," Kairi said as she pulled her skirt up, "I guess it's just been a long day for both of us."

As soon as Kairi had finished putting her wrinkled outfit back on, the girls walked over to their next target. A shadow of a circular object with points hovered in place. Naminé gasped.

_"I know who this is,"_ she said quietly.

"So do I," Kairi agreed. There was no mistaking it.

"Axel," they said in unison.

The girls stared at Axel's symbol. _"You know, maybe we should choose someone else,"_ Naminé suggested.

Kairi shook her head. "No, I've got a lot of stuff that I've been meaning to say to him." She reached for the shadow.

_"But, Kairi,"_ Naminé started to say, but it was too late. They immediately found themselves surrounded by walls of flame. As Kairi began to sweat, Naminé chuckled. _"Well, at least you're no longer cold, right?"_

Kairi fanned herself with an open hand. "It's like standing in a baked oven!" She could feel the Keyblade's metal start to grow warmer underneath her grip.

_"Just remember to act calm when he appears,"_ Naminé advised.

"Don't worry, Naminé. I'm like a mountain of tranquility at the moment."

The data streams appeared right on cue. When Axel's body fully formed, he seemed astonished to see who his opponent was.

"Kairi?"

Kairi stood silent for a moment. There were many things she had wanted to say to him. Word choices rambled around in her mind. In the end, though, Kairi ended up shouting, "You sonuva...!" and made a mad dash toward him, her eyes reflecting the fiery anger within her.

Axel barely had time to raise his chakrams to defend himself. "Wait, Kairi! Let me explain!" Kairi wouldn't listen and kept up her berserk assault.

"You lousy...piece of...rotten..." Not knowing how else to calm her down, Axel quickly spun around behind her and locked her into a bear hug, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Will you just cool off and listen for a sec?" But Kairi felt venomous intent controlling her emotions at the moment. She slammed her foot down on his boot. Axel immediately let go, hopping on one foot trying to shake off the pain.

He immediately stopped cold when Kairi held the tip of her Keyblade underneath his chin. "Shut up and talk," she growled quietly, keeping her intense gaze focused on Axel.

"Look, Kairi. I...I wanted to apologize to you. You know, for the whole kidnapping thing." Axel was trying not to make any sudden movements as Kairi's eyes were still staring daggers through him. "I'm sorry. It's just that I thought I'd be able to see Roxas again if I could get Sora's heart to..."

"I'm sorry? I'M SORRY?!" Kairi removed the blade from his throat and slammed its handle into Axel's stomach, knocking him back a few feet. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?! My heart was stolen, my boyfriend left me, my memories were tampered with, I had to play damsel in distress, TWICE!" she raged. "I've been forced into a marriage that I'm not ready for, kidnapped yet again, had to put up with a giant Heartless, was violated by a perverted Nobody, and had to be insulted, tortured, blasted, soaked, electrocuted and beaten up by your freakin' Organization!" Kairi's limbs shook with barely suppressed anger. "And you expect me to just forgive you just like that? JUST LIKE THAT?!"

Axel massaged his stomach. "Hey, if you hadn't run away from me, I'd have kept you safe from the rest of the Organization!"

"You know what? I wish I wasn't a stupid Princess of Heart!" There it was. The stress and pressure finally made her doubt her own heart. "Then I wouldn't have been kidnapped off my world! I wouldn't be stuck in this stupid marriage! I wouldn't have had to put up with this...this..." She struggled for the right words. "...idiotic lunacy! I'd be sitting at home, hanging with my parents! I'd be going to school and not have to worry about other worlds!" She fell to her knees, her face in her hands. Tears welled up in her eyes. "No Keyblades or Heartless to deal with. None of this hearts and darkness junk! I'd have..."

"Never met Sora," Axel finished quietly. Kairi froze. "You don't really believe he hasn't suffered as much as you have, do you? Do you have any idea how much he gave up just to bring you and Riku back in one piece?" He crossed his arms, his face expressionless. "Yeah, I had my share of sins too. I'll admit that. I kidnapped you to try to bring back Roxas. It was selfish, I know. But Sora..." Axel turned his head away from her. "He never once stopped believing in you. He gave up his home, his innocence, his memories, and more importantly..." He fixed his gaze back on Kairi. "...he gave up his heart. All of that just to be with you."

Kairi couldn't think of a counter-argument, so Axel continued. "I wish I could say I know how you feel. Really, I do. But we both know I don't have a heart to understand with. You may not like how your life turned out up to this point. But you know what? Deal with it."

_"Kairi,"_ Naminé whispered. _"You can't give up now. I know you're tired and exhausted, but you can't give in to these doubts lingering in your heart. Remember what I've always told you?"_

Kairi rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yeah. Believe in yourself." She slowly inhaled, counted to three, and exhaled slowly.

Axel stood there waiting as Kairi got back up to her feet. "You feel better now?"

Kairi wiped off some leftover reticular fluid and nodded. "Listen, can you tell us what's going on?"

The other redhead scratched his ear. "I wish I could, but it's kinda out of my hands right now."

"What do you mean?"

"In other words, I'm forbidden from telling you anything. This security system I'm trapped in won't allow me to."

"Couldn't we just guess at it and you can just say if we're on the right track?" Kairi suggested.

Axel shook his head. "Like I said, I can't even tell you if you're right."

The sound of crackling flames was the only noise against the awkward silence hanging in the air. Finally, Kairi spoke. "So what happens now?"

"Well, once you enter one of our coves, you can't leave without annihilating its occupant."

"So, we have to fight against each other?"

Axel nodded. "To the end."

Kairi could sense Naminé's reluctant feelings of fighting Axel. "What's wrong, Naminé?"

_"It's just that...Axel actually helped me escape from Marluxia,"_ she replied bitterly. _"I'd feel a bit guilty if we have to destroy him like this."_

"Naminé...I know you're there." Axel looked directly into Kairi's eyes. "I just wanted to apologize to you too. I hope there's no hard feelings," Axel twirled the chakrams in each hand, "but that doesn't mean I'm going easy on either of you!" He smirked. "I do have a reputation to think about after all."

"Do we really have to fight?" Kairi pleaded. Axel gave her a smug grin.

"Sorry, Kairi, but it's the rules of the system after all. And if you don't mind, I'd rather go out fighting."

"But..."

"Don't disappoint me, Kairi! Stop moving and the darkness will overtake you! Simple as that!" He pointed at her with his weapon. "Got it memorized?"

* * *

Aladdin and Abu were running along following wherever Jack Sparrow's stolen compass pointed. So far, they ended up going around in circles. "How does this thing work anyway?" Aladdin muttered to himself. "The needle keeps pointing in random directions!"

Suddenly, Abu started screeching excitedly as he tugged on Aladdin's pants. "What's up, Abu?" The little monkey jumped up and down, pointing toward a herd of Assault Riders in the distance. They had a sword-wielding Chinese woman who was protecting a wounded lion surrounded. Aladdin whipped out his scimitar. "Looks like they need some help!" With a warrior's cry, he used his acrobatic skills to flip up onto one of the Heartless' backs. "Time for a little teamwork!"

The other Assault Riders noticed Aladdin and mindlessly started swinging their spears, striking their own ally. Sensing itself being attacked, the Heartless Aladdin was riding retaliated against its comrades, clearing most of the herd. "Come on!" the former street rat taunted as he leapt onto the back of another Heartless. "Is that all you got?"

Aladdin continued the baiting until there was one Heartless left, which he finished off by plunging his sword into its back. The woman stared at him curiously as he brushed himself off.

"Not that I don't appreciate the help," the girl began, "but who exactly are you?"

Aladdin held out his hand. "The name's Aladdin."

"I'm Mulan," she said as she grabbed his outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake.

"So, Mulan," Aladdin said as he grinned from ear to ear. "Why exactly are you protecting a lion?"

"His name's Simba," Mulan explained. "They ambushed him about a few miles from here. I was able to save him temporarily, but as you just saw," Mulan pursed her lips, "they caught up with us."

Aladdin rubbed his chin in thought. "So where are you guys headed?"

"We were hoping to find a healer or at least someone with a Potion."

Aladdin grin grew even wider. "What do you know? I just happen to have a couple of them on me." He reached into a vest pocket and pulled out two Hi-Potions. Mulan took one of the bottles and poured the drink into Simba's mouth. Instantly, the scratches and bruises healed up and disappeared.

"I think we better try to find Sora and the others," Mulan suggested. "They might know what's going on." She and Aladdin started to help Simba back on his feet.

"Simba, was it? Are you okay?" Aladdin asked. When Simba didn't say anything, the prince of thieves turned back to Mulan. "Why exactly am I talking to a lion? They don't talk."

"Hey, you'd have a hard time talking too if you were just trampled by a dozen Heartless hooves," Simba groaned.


	16. Kairi vs the Flurry of Dancing Flames

"Burn, baby!" Fire rippled out from Axel's position, blanketing the entire floor with magma. Fortunately for Kairi, her boots were flame-retardant, so she didn't have to worry about her footwear being set ablaze. Unfortunately, they didn't protect her from the sweltering heat. It was like sticking a two-layer waterproof glove into 200-degree Fahrenheit water. Her feet weren't getting burnt, but her boots were absorbing most of the heat.

_"I'm so glad I paid that extra 1000 munny for fire protective boots!"_ Kairi thought.

_"I thought these boots were Selphie's..."_ Naminé said.

"We went shopping together," Kairi explained. "And it seemed like a good idea at the time."

_"Wow. Talk about being prepared,"_ Naminé replied, obviously impressed.

Kairi giggled. "If I were prepared, I'd have bought the quick-dry wrinkle-free fabric with the pockets for this outfit as well."

With the grace of a ballerina dancer, Axel spun and twirled with his weapons, each strike aiming to kill. Kairi was starting to get the hang of guarding against attacks, but her strength was already leaking out of her. The constant attack barrage combined with the sweltering heat were beginning to overwhelm Kairi. Her once precise movements became clumsier and twice she almost burned herself against the fire wall.

"What's the problem?" Axel taunted. "Don't tell me you're giving up already!"

_"Kairi! You're too exhausted!_" Naminé shouted. _"Let me fight!"_

"Just...just for a little...while..." Kairi panted. She closed her eyes and felt herself giving up control of her own body as Naminé's consciousness emerged from within her.

Naminé's eyes snapped open as she swiped the Keyblade, ready to fight.

"Alright! It's my tur..." A smell of familiar burnt rubber wisped across Naminé's nose. She looked down and was horrified to see that the magma floor was melting the soles of her footwear. "Aah! My sandals!" Naminé hopped quickly from one foot to the other trying to avoid her feet being burned. "You know, on second thought, he's all yours!"

As Kairi felt control return to her body, she quickly noticed that her outfit was fresh and comfortable as if it were tailored and dry-cleaned and her hair was back to its silky, smooth state. Physically, she was undamaged, but mentally, Kairi felt like she would collapse at any moment. _"Sorry, Kairi,"_ Naminé apologized. _"I guess my footwear wasn't created for extreme heat."_

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Thanks a lot, Naminé."

* * *

"Man, these guys are tough!" Tidus shouted over the clanging of weapons. The Berserkers were too over-powered for Tidus and Wakka to deal with on their own. Auron was trying his best to attack with his "Battlefields of War", but the massive Nobodies were quickly ganging up on him.

"There'll be no end to this!" Auron grunted through bared teeth.

"Come on, old man!" Wakka teased as he ricocheted his Blitzball off Nobody after Nobody. "We can keep this up all day!"

"We're wasting time!" Auron snapped. "We have to finish this now or retreat!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the entire battle halted as the crow of a rooster cried out from nowhere.

"What the...?" Wakka was the first one to see him. "Look up there!" A boy in green tights and a feathered cap swooped out of nowhere and needle-dived into one of the Berserkers, destroying it.

"Who the heck is this guy, Robin Hood?" Tidus wondered.

"Whoever he is, he can sure kick butt!" Wakka said. The boy that never grew up flew back up into the sky to get a birds-eye view of the situation.

"Well, it doesn't look like Sora's here either," Peter Pan said to Tinker Bell who was tinkling around his head. "Are you sure that he was heading in this direction?" Tinker Bell only crossed her arms and pouted. "Come on, Tink! You're not still sore about Disney finally giving you a voice, are you?" When she refused to make eye contact, Peter shrugged. "Anyway, it looks like those people need some help!"

Peter went into a corkscrew dive and grabbed a hold of Tidus. "Need a lift?" Peter Pan hoisted Tidus under the arms and flew into the sky.

Tidus marveled at the new perspective. "Don't know who you are," Tidus said thankfully as he targeted himself over a couple of Berserkers, "but if you could just fly a few inches to the right...there!" With increasing altitude, Peter held onto Tidus, who had his sword ready and willing to do some serious damage. Streams of blue energy burst from his sword and rained down onto the battlefield, frying anything in its path.

"Hey, watch it!" Wakka cried as a few stray beams almost hit him.

"That's not going to be enough, though," Auron said grimly. "You three might want to get back for this." As soon as Wakka, Tidus and Peter were a good distance away, a wind tunnel started to circle around Auron's body. The wind velocity picked up rapidly as Auron flung the hurricane at the Berserkers. Like a vacuum cleaner's powerful suction, the remaining Nobodies were lifted off their feet.

With all the Berserkers trapped inside the swirling tornado, Auron reached into his coat, pulled out a jug of alcohol and flung it straight into the swirling wind. As soon as the container shattered on contact, the entire mass burst into flames, incinerating all the Nobodies.

Tidus and Wakka looked at Auron in awe. "Why didn't you do that before?!" Tidus screamed.

"If you'd have preferred I did it when you were in range..." Auron began rhetorically.

Before Tidus could reply, Peter yelled, "Hey! Have you seen the groom anywhere?"

Tidus, Wakka and Auron just stared at the flying boy. "And here I thought I've seen everything," Auron muttered. Then to Peter, "No. We've been looking for him, though."

"Man, my throwing arm is killing me," Wakka complained, stretching out his rotator cuff. "How many of these creatures are there?"

"Heartless." Tidus and Wakka looked up at Auron. "That's their name. Heartless."

"Really?" Tidus ruffled his hair. "I remember Sora and Riku saying something about them."

"But they're usually black and bug-like, ya?" Wakka asked.

Auron squinted at him. "If that's true, then these creatures names are unknown to me."

"Hey, since we're looking for the same thing, why don't you come with us?" Tidus asked Peter enthusiastically.

Peter Pan thought it over for a moment. "Alright, but we're only in this together until we find Sora!"

The group started heading north. "Why exactly are you looking for him?" Wakka asked.

"I had something urgent to ask him involving the wedding," Peter replied.

"I just hope those fairies can find the others," Tidus muttered under his breath. "This feels like a big waste of time running around in circles."

* * *

Naminé moaned in frustration. She wanted to fight Axel face-to-face, but the lava-like floor prevented her from staying out too long. Naminé also noticed that switching back and forth with Kairi put a massive strain on their heart. They wouldn't physically be damaged, but the switch would always sap both of their strength a bit.

It had been more than five hours since Kairi and Sora were at the wedding hall about to exchange vows. Four hours before that, Kairi had just woken up from a troubled sleep. She was so worried about the marriage that she barely slept two hours. Despite using Curaga and "form-switching" with Naminé, the exhaustion was catching up with her.

"Get back!" Axel threw his chakrams like giant, flat yo-yos. He performed tricks that even an expert would have a hard time performing: "Around the World" while flipping sideways, behind the back and underneath his legs; he even was able to pull off a double "Warp Drive" followed with a "Time Warp." Kairi could only weakly parry or deflect the attacks with her Keyblade.

_"Stay focused, Kairi!"_ Naminé shouted. _"Don't let down your guard!"_

"Won't forget this!" Rings of flame swirled around Axel's body as he channeled his energy into his weapons. Instinct screamed at her to avoid the attack at all costs, forcing Kairi to flee out of range. Then like a frisbee champion, he tossed his chakrams with pinpoint precision straight at her retreating form.

Kairi shrieked as a stray chakram nicked her butt. "Hey! Watch where you aim those things!" she shouted, rubbing her bottom.

"Come on, Kairi! You should know by now never to leave your back exposed to an opponent!" Axel wagged a finger at her. "One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?" Before Kairi could react, Axel leapt backward into the fire behind him.

"Where'd he go?" Kairi constantly shifted her position, attempting to track Axel's movements behind the flame wall.

She only had a split-second to react when Axel burst out from her right side. Kairi backflipped out of the way as the Flurry of Dancing Flames skated by her, leaving a streak of fire pillars in his wake. Before she could make a move, Axel jumped back into the wall.

"He's not going to do the whole Luxord thing again, is he?" Kairi panted. She was feeling faint from heat exhaustion which made it hard to keep thinking.

_"Kairi, your energy's dangerously low!"_ Naminé warned. _"You have to finish this NOW!"_ Kairi nodded as she lifted her Keyblade wearily.

Axel exploded from the wall, hurtling toward Kairi. This time, however, she was ready. Using the last of her strength, she high-jumped into the air until she reached Axel's level. They stared into each other's eyes as time seemed to suspend them both.

Their paths intersected with each other and Kairi swung her weapon the same time Axel sliced with his.

As their weapons made contact, a brilliant burst of light blinded both combatants. Kairi and Axel both landed on the extinguished magma-free tiling, waiting with tense anticipation. The only audible sounds were their heavy breathing against the crackling flames. Whose attack hit first?

Kairi was shocked as Axel broke the silence. "Not bad, Kairi," Turning to face her opponent, she saw him collapse to his knees. "You'll make a great Keyblade master yet."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Kairi replied as she leaned on her Keyblade for support.

Axel lifted his gaze, staring into the redhead's soot-filled face. "Let's meet again in the next life."

Kairi nodded. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

Naminé giggled. _"Admit it. You SO stole that from Leon."_

"And Axel?" Kairi gave him a gentle smile. "I forgive you."

Axel shook his head in amusement. "I see why Sora loves you so much. You really do complete him."

"I try my best," Kairi replied. Axel let out a short chuckle.

"Just never lose sight of your light in the darkness," Axel said. "It's the only thing that'll save you." His form's glitching was speeding up rapidly like a virus.

Kairi's eyes widened. "Wait! What do you mean by that?!"

Axel's head hung low, a man with a forbidden secret. "Commit it to memory. That's all I have to say."

"Axel..." In the back of Kairi's mind, she could hear Naminé sobbing.

"Oh, almost forgot." Axel pointed to his neck as his body dissolved back into data. "You weren't exactly..." His voice trailed off as he faded back into nothingness.

Kairi stood there for a few seconds trying to figure out what Axel was trying to say. It took the feeling of a warm liquid gliding smoothly down her neck before she realized. Her hand flew to her neck and felt a deep gash that was bleeding steadily.

_"Kairi! Cast Curaga!"_ Naminé shouted. Kairi was about to raise her Keyblade to cast it, but she started to feel that strange sensation in her heart again. Her body swayed on the spot as she became light-headed. Her muscles slackened as the surroundings swirled around her.

Kairi didn't know if she was sitting or standing. All she could think about was sinking down into the comfortable light that surrounded her body. Naminé's voice echoed in her mind, but it rapidly faded into white noise. The last thing that Kairi remembered was hearing her own voice whispering, "Sora..."


	17. Sora and Kairi's First Date?

King Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Tarzan were making their way through the Castle Gate area. All of a sudden...

"What's that rumbling noise?" the King asked.

Donald glared at Goofy. "Is that your stomach again?"

Goofy's eyes widened as he patted his spare tire. "Nope! I made sure to eat before the weddin'!"

"You mean while you were supposed to be checking invitations?"

Goofy looked at Donald, obviously hurt by the accusation. "Not on your life! Are you sayin' that I don't take my job seriously?"

"No, what I'm saying is that you should try losing some weight! That paunch of yours has been growing rounder ever since we returned to the castle!" Donald shook his head. "What would Max say if he saw you now?"

Goofy's eyes narrowed. "So we're talking about family now, are we? How are April, May and June these days?"

Donald's jaw dropped. "Hey! Daisy still hasn't forgiven me ever since that noodle incident! Just because..."

"Will you two stop bickering?!" Mickey snapped. Donald and Goofy immediately ceased arguing. "Why are you arguing at a time like this?"

"Sorry, your majesty," Donald apologized as both of them hung their heads in shame.

"We're just really worried about the others," Goofy explained. "And..."

Mickey shushed him. "Don't you hear that?" Indeed, the noise was getting louder. It didn't take a Gummi scientist to know what was happening.

"Avalanche!"

"Again?" Donald sighed wearily. Dozens of Pete-sized boulders came spilling off the edge of a cliff onto the foursome. "Scatter!"

Tarzan was able to bob and weave like water through the rocks with ease. Donald deflected the boulders using Blizzaga spells while Goofy ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. The King started forward, but ended up tripping over a crack in the ground.

"Your Majesty! Look out!" Donald, Goofy and Tarzan could only watch helplessly as stray boulders hurtled toward the King.

A huge blur sped past the stunned heroes straight for the King. Before their very eyes, the rocks exploded inches from King Mickey's body as if he had some kind of invisible barrier surrounding him. Dust and debris blanketed the field until the onslaught slowed to a stop.

"Somebody in need of a hero?" Out of the dust clouds came the unmistakable form of Hercules.

Donald and Goofy ran up to him and shook hands. "It's great to see you, Hercules!" Goofy greeted.

"But what exactly are you doing all the way out here?" Donald asked.

"Whenever the people are in need of a hero, I'll be there!" Herc laughed, thrusting his chest out proudly. "But in all seriousness, Phil told me that you guys could use some help." The Olympian hero rolled his eyes. "He said it was part of my 'training', if you know what I mean."

"Welp, if you hadn't been here, those boulders might've been the end of me." King Mickey smiled at him warmly. "You have my thanks."

"Hey, why don't you come with us?" Goofy suggested. "We sure could use all the help we can get!"

"Yeah!" Donald chimed in. "Us heroes need to stick together!"

Hercules raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you two make hero?" He chuckled as Donald clamped his beak shut. "Like I'm going to say no?"

"By the way, have you met Tarzan?" Goofy turned to Tarzan, who had been silently observing the conversation. "Tarzan, this is our friend, Hercules."

"Her-cue-lees?" Tarzan enunciated. "Friend?" Herc and Tarzan stared at each other, sizing each other up.

After a short awkward silence, Hercules said the first thing that came to mind. "Nice loincloth."

Tarzan looked bamboozled, unsure if the comment was sarcasm or a compliment. In the end, he just shrugged. "Thank you," he slowly replied.

* * *

_"I can't believe this!"_ Kairi thought excitedly. _"We're finally alone! Just the two of us!"_ She and Sora were by themselves on their first date at a private island on the other side of the peninsula. Riku had mentioned seeing it when he and Sora were hurtling back to Destiny Islands via Door to Light. He assured them that it was completely private. Tidus, Wakka and Selphie didn't even know about it. Kairi was wearing a cute, pink bikini with sparkly white stars printed on it. Sora was bare-chested, but he was wearing an open blue-green Hawaiian shirt with white swim trunks.

Kairi smiled to herself. _"And to think Sora couldn't be acting any more clumsier."_ Indeed, Sora's mannerisms seemed to be a bit more unfocused and sporadic. The Princess of Heart suspected it might have had something to do with her swimwear. She giggled as Sora's eyes tried desperately to maintain focus on her face, but his gaze always seemed to remain drawn to her body. His stammering didn't help prove her theory wrong.

Kairi was flattered that he thought she was hot. On the other hand, Sora's body was just as tempting to gaze over. Admittedly, his abs weren't as rock-hard and well-defined like Riku's. But it was obvious that he had been working out due to the muscle definition all over his body.

They had spent the past couple of hours playing, talking, wrestling (Sora cheated by tickling her) and pretty much having the time of their lives. And now they stood there, gazing at each other under the twilit sunset. A pleasant breeze played across Kairi's body, sending goosebumps across her skin. She felt Sora's fingertips softly caress her hair before gently guiding her face toward his. His deep blue eyes seemed so hypnotic and mesmerizing to her. She couldn't help but stare lustfully back into them.

Kairi's lips trembled with anticipation. _"Is this it? Is this the moment?"_ As Sora's handsome face drew closer to hers, she could feel her body moving on instinct. Kairi gently closed her eyes, her lips slightly parted as her head was guided toward his. Their lips were mere millimeters from direct contact...

**CHAKAROOOOM!** Kairi's body was flung back by a powerful explosion that separated the couple. She could feel her exposed skin scratched open by the sand's friction beneath her. Refocusing on her surroundings, Kairi was horrified to find herself on the earthy platform she had fought Darkside on. The sky was no longer filled with the gentle orange sunset. Instead it was replaced by the same maelstrom of darkness that had threatened her island.

As she picked herself up, she saw Sora had already summoned his Keyblade. Kairi attempted to do the same, but then remembered she couldn't. She was a Keyblade wielder, but she wasn't a Keyblade master. The Keyblade hadn't chosen her to summon it at will yet. She had only received her weapon from Riku. And he wasn't here.

"No..." Kairi tried to run after Sora, but her body was stuck fast in a pool of darkness. "Sora! Don't leave me alone!" The more Kairi struggled, the faster the darkness was pulling her in. Sora's head whipped around, his face immediately changing to complete shock.

Before he could help her, Heartless appeared out of nowhere and piled on top of him, weighing him down. "Kairi!" he shouted, stretching his arm as far as he could reach.

"Sora, help me! Please!" Kairi screamed. Wisps of darkness threatened to engulf her vision as they snaked up her outstretched arm. "No, not again..."

"Kairi!"

"Please," she sobbed, "not again..."

_"Kairi!"_ Naminé's voice shouted. _"Wake up!"_

Kairi's eyelids snapped open. She found herself sprawled out in the middle of the Garden of Assemblage. As she sat herself up to a sitting position, Kairi yawned and stretched out her limbs. It took a few seconds before she remembered where she was.

The Princess of Heart brushed some stray hair back into an almost presentable position. "Naminé, what happened?"

_"Stating the obvious, you've been asleep."_

"Asleep? For how long?" Kairi stifled another yawn.

_"Approximately a good hour or two."_ The girl's jaw locked in mid-yawn as she became fully alert.

"What?! I was asleep for two hours?" As Kairi rose to her feet, she realized that there were tear trails streaked across her face and hastily wiped them off. "What exactly happened? The last thing I remember is..." Her eyes widened in shock. Kairi's hand flew to her neck and was amazed that there was no trace of any injury.

_"I took over long enough to heal you, but..."_ Naminé sighed. _"For some reason I couldn't hold onto my form for very long. I made our way here before I lost control and your body collapsed."_

"Did you also notice that feeling in our heart again?" Kairi asked.

_"Yeah, it was definitely more noticeable this time. But..."_ Naminé's voice trailed off.

"But...?" Kairi repeated.

_"It's strange. No one was messing with your memories, but I could feel something...scanning them."_

"Scanning? As in reading them?" Kairi shuddered at the thought. "Well, that's comforting. Someone or something knows all my private memories."

_"You may be right,"_ Naminé agreed. _"Either way, I don't think there's anything we can do right now but to move on."_

Kairi started for the ramp, but another flash of memory ran through her mind. This time Sora held out his Keyblade and summoned fireballs that circled around his body. _**"FIRE!"**_ he cried.

"I guess I just learned another spell," Kairi said.

_"Wonder what's left to learn?"_ Naminé asked.

Kairi shrugged. "Who knows? As long as they put me up on par with Sora and Riku, I don't care."

As they made their way back up the ramp and to their next target, Kairi suddenly remembered something that had been nagging her. "Axel said not to lose sight of light in the darkness. What do you think he meant by that?"

_"Beats me. You know how enigmatic people can be sometimes."_

Kairi nodded. "I know what you mean. Thinking that they're all cool just because they have a mysterious background or some unanswered secret. Sure, it was interesting back in the 70's. But these days? It's completely unoriginal and overused, don't you think?"

_"Hey, people love a good mystery,"_ Naminé replied. _"It's a way to keep life interesting or else it wouldn't be worth experiencing_."

The girls finally ended up in front of the next cove. To the left of Demyx's now-pink cove was an oblong symbol with many sharp points.

_"It looks like some type of fancy chopstick."_

Kairi's eyes widened. "Really? I think it looks like a pen or a quill."

_"Maybe a toothbrush?"_

"Nah, there's no bristles," Kairi replied. "Could it be a dart?"

_"Well, whatever it is, we're not going to find out by standing here."_ As Kairi touched the shadow, blinding light swallowed her body in its rays. The light dimmed enough for her to open her eyes.

Kairi found herself standing in the middle of Addled Impasse. The data environment was a perfect copy of the original right down to Kingdom Hearts shining brightly through the transparent glass.

"Now I remember," Kairi said. "This was where Sora learned about Roxas." Then she gasped.

_"What? What's wrong?"_ Naminé asked concerned.

Kairi felt a slight chill travel down her spine. "I just remembered which member Sora fought."

_"Really?"_ Naminé's tone had a tinge of worry in those two syllables. _"Who?"_

As in answer to her question, circlets of data appeared before them, forming Xemnas' right-hand man.

"You!" Kairi cried, pointing her Keyblade at Saix.

"Kairi. Naminé." The Luna Diviner stared expressionless at Kairi. "Are you enjoying your stay in the Garden of Assemblage?"

"Can't say that I am," Kairi snapped. Then privately to Naminé, _"That's what that room's called? Why would anyone call it a garden?_"

Saix eyed the Keyblade in her hand. "I see you've learned to wield the Keyblade more skillfully."

"Well, being friends of Keyblade masters has its perks." Kairi grinned. "Hey, isn't this guy Xemnas' number two?"

Naminé giggled. _"Eww! That's disgusting!"_

"Fool. Do you truly believe that you can withstand Kingdom Hearts' power?"

Kairi gave her hair a flip of confidence. "Please. We already destroyed Kingdom Hearts once."

Saix shook his head. "If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter." He kept his glare solely focused on Kairi. "You didn't do anything. Sora and Riku did." This wiped the smile off of Kairi's face. "You were able to escape once by your friend from the darkness. You won't be so lucky this time."

Saix turned to face Kingdom Hearts shining outside the window. He spread out his arms, basking in its lunar glow. "Do you feel it? The moon's power!"

"Oh, this is bad," Kairi said as she took a few steps back. "He's going to..."

"Moon, shine down!" Saix rose up into the air like an angel rising up to the heavens. Light blue flames radiated around him as an unnerving amount of energy seemed to burst out from within his body.

Kairi cringed as Saix stared at her with predatory eyes. Naminé wasn't feeling any more confident than Kairi was. _"We are so going to die."_


	18. Kairi vs the Luna Diviner & Useless?

"If you have any ideas, Naminé, now would be a good time to tell me!" Kairi shouted as she fled from Saix's shockwaves.

_"I only know as much as you do!"_ Naminé replied helplessly. _"The only time I've seen him fight was when he was against Sora!"_

Kairi mentally face-palmed herself. "This is pitiful, you know that? We've beaten almost half of the Organization and ol' frizzy hair here might actually kill us!"

_"Don't you think we should stand our ground?"_ Naminé suggested as Saix went for another round of "Tag and You're Dead."

Kairi let out a laugh of false mirth. "Only if you have a death wish!"

Saix's eyes tracked her movements as she desperately tried to leap over Saix's energy ripples. Without warning, he flung his claymore into Kairi's path. She was barely able to raise her Keyblade in time to deflect the incoming projectile, but the force of the attack knocked her flat on her butt.

As Kairi massaged her posterior, Saix summoned the weapon back to his hand. It took a few seconds before she realized that the Luna Diviner had taken a short break to absorb more power from Kingdom Hearts.

"Why'd he stop chasing me?" Finally, it clicked. "I get it! Going berserk uses up a lot of his energy! All we have to do is tire him out!"

_"Then what are we waiting for?"_ Naminé asked. _"Now might be a good time to attack!"_ Kairi nodded and started for Saix. She had barely taken three steps when Saix's eyes snapped open and turned his predatory stare back onto her, forcing Kairi to a screeching halt. He pounced on his scared prey before she could react.

"Be gone!" As Saix barreled down on her, Kairi instinctively raised the Keyblade to guard the attack. Unfortunately, the combined weight of Saix's momentum, his overall berserk strength, and the power of his claymore forced Kairi's knees to collapse on contact. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from screaming out in pain.

Saix swiped his claymore at Kairi's head, who in turn Dodge Flipped out of the way and broke into a fast hobble. "Fool. I want to see you die fighting," he taunted.

"It's no good," Kairi muttered under her breath. "My knees are totally shot." She raised her Keyblade. **"HEAL!"** Instantly, she felt all of her aches and pains drain from her body leaving it undamaged, but slightly worse for wear.

_"Good thing you rested up,"_ Naminé said, _"or you'd be swaying on your feet right about now."_ Kairi looked back at Saix and was a bit annoyed to see that he had taken the opportunity to close his eyes and face the heart-shaped moon again.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Kairi huffed, clearly frustrated. "Everytime I get close to him, he keeps forcing me back with his Wolverine impressions!"

_"If only we could get him to focus more on us than recharging his batteries every few minutes..."_ Naminé said. Kairi suddenly grinned. It was so simple.

Kairi cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted, "Hey Saix! I heard that your mother was a werewolf!"

_"Um, Kairi? What are you doing?"_ Naminé asked.

"Trust me on this," Kairi replied. Then to Saix, "I also heard your dad was a veterinarian! When they got together every night, he would always diagnose her with rabies!" Saix's eyes snapped open.

"Be quiet, brat," he growled.

"What's it like to have Xemnas as your boyfriend?" Saix's eyes were twitching fiercely. "Whatcha gonna do? You gonna whimper like a widdle puppy dog?"

"You dare mock me, you insolent little...?!" Saix completely forgot about Kingdom Hearts and shouldered his claymore.

"Aw, wid I make the widdle wolfy angwy?" Kairi taunted cutely. "Widdle wolfy need a changy-wangy in his diapey-wipey?"

"SHUT UP!" Saix's composure was obviously slipping.

Kairi decided to put the final nail in the coffin. "Hey Saix!" She pointed to her head. "Got it memorized?"

Saix let out a giant roar of fury. "Do you think we made him mad enough?" Kairi asked rhetorically.

"All shall be lost to you!" Saix snarled, blitzing toward Kairi at superhuman speed.

_"Yup,"_ Naminé said with a satisfied tone in her voice, _"we officially ticked the guy off."_

* * *

_"You think Naminé and Kairi are okay?"_ Roxas asked Sora. _"I mean, we've been going around fighting Heartless and Nobodies for two hours now and we still haven't seen any of our friends yet."_

Sora crossed his arms and looked up to the sky in thought. His party was able to find a safe area away from their foes and were now in the middle of taking a short rest. "Don't worry. We'd know if something happened to them. You know, with the whole heart connection thing."

"So there you guys are!" a high-pitched voice rang out. Sora turned around and was astonished to see Rikku, who had finally caught up with the group. The Gullwings made a few failed attempts of finding anyone and ultimately decided it would be much faster if they split up. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"We?" Sora repeated. "Who's we?"

"Why, Tidus and the others! They sent us to look for you!"

"Who's Tidus?" Pence asked.

"Friend of ours from Destiny Islands," Sora explained.

Before anyone else could say anything, Riku stared at the faerie all business-like. "Sora? Who's this?"

"Oh, that's right. You two haven't met each other." He motioned toward the yellow-clad pixie. "Riku, this is Rikku. And Rikku," Sora turned toward Rikku, "this is Riku."

"Hiyas!" Rikku chirped.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Make one identity joke, Sora, and I swear..." Then to Rikku, "Tell the others and anyone else who can fight to meet us at the old mineshaft."

"Got it!" Rikku squeaked happily. "Later taters!" And with that, she disappeared in a sparkle of stardust.

Riku turned toward Hayner and the others. "You guys should head back to the safe room. It's going to get more dangerous from here on out."

"But Kairi's our friend too!" Hayner argued.

Riku shook his head. "You guys aren't exactly equipped to fight anything right now. Swinging around foam bats is one thing, but swinging a sword is a completely different matter.

"What about us?" Ariel piped in. "Are you saying that me and the Prince are useless too?"

"I didn't say you were useless." Riku rubbed his temples in frustration. "I just think..."

Sora put his hand on Riku's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It's no good telling them to go and hide. They'll be fine."

Riku blinked. "But..."

Sora held up his hand, silencing Riku. "They're a whole lot stronger than you give them credit for, Riku."

Riku smirked. "So you're stealing my lines now, huh?" He turns back to the others. "Sorry, guys. I guess it's been a long day for all of us."

"You still look worried, though," Olette said. "It's because of the Struggle bats, right?" Riku nodded.

Sora scratched his head trying to think of a solution to the problem. After a few seconds, the answer came to him. "Leon, are there any spare weapons these guys could use?"

Leon thought for a moment. Then he smiled. "Now that you mention it..."

* * *

"Get back here, you #$ h!" Saix's entire focus was on one thing only: Kill.

"Oooh, someone's getting all defensive!" Kairi giggled as she did another Dodge Flip away from the blue energy waves emanating from Saix's claymore. "Let me guess, your prom date was a beaver!"

_"You sure it's okay to antagonize him like this?"_ Naminé wondered. _"You realize that we're dead if he manages to get even ONE hit?."_

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "You think I don't know that? Look at this way, he's got to be tiring out, right?" She glanced over her shoulder to see Saix was still blazing with fury. "What's with the hair?" Kairi taunted, sticking out her tongue and pulling down her bottom eyelid in classic anime style. "Been sitting under a hair dryer too long?"

Saix was so enraged that he wasn't even using human language anymore. Instead, his entire vocabulary became a series of snarls and growls.

"Wait a minute! I finally understand now!" Kairi exclaimed slapping her forehead. "That X on your face is used for target practice!" After minutes of going full steam, Saix finally doubled over clutching his chest.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Kairi charged at Saix and aimed for Saix's "X." **"TAKE THIS!"** Her Keyblade screamed through the air as she swung it in an overhead arc.

**CLANG!** Kairi's eyes widened as Saix parried her attack. "Did you really think you could tire me out so easily?"

Saix's claymore caught her by surprise as it slammed into her stomach with so much force that it sent her flying. Kairi heard a dull crack as her body made contact with the ceiling. On her return trip back to earth, Saix was waiting with his weapon in a batter's stance.

**THWHAM!** Kairi's limbs flopped around like a marionette with its strings clipped as her body crashed into the far wall and fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. She laid there wincing in pain as Saix slowly stalked around her limp form. "Naminé..." Kairi moaned. "It hurts to move..."

"Where's your witty quips now, girl?" he taunted, staring at his prey through hungry eyes. Saix took a few more steps forward as he began to raise his weapon. He was about to deal the finishing blow when he froze in mid-swing. Kairi's body moved automatically as it used the Keyblade to prop itself back up. "What..."

"Right here, wolfie!" Naminé's voice spouted out of Kairi's mouth. Saix couldn't believe his eyes as Naminé tagged in with Kairi. She executed a flawless bicycle kick, blasting Saix's weapon out of his hand. Before he could react, Naminé whirled around and shot a powerful mule kick into Saix's midsection, causing him to double over in pain. She took a quick glance at her sandals. "Cool! They're not melted any more!"

_"Hurry! While he's disarmed!"_ Kairi shouted. Without a moment's hesitation, Naminé flung the Keyblade at the big X as hard as she could.

In pain or not, most of his berserker rage had left him, enabling Saix's thought processing to become clearer. He could hear the Keyblade whizzing toward him. Saix grinned as he caught it effortlessly between his palms, the projectile mere inches from his face. "Fool." He shifted his gaze off of the Keyblade to give his opponent a smug glare.

The smugness quickly evaporated when his own claymore came out of nowhere and slammed him upside his head, forcing him to drop the Keyblade. As Saix began to stagger about, he realized that Naminé had converted back to Kairi.

Kairi quickly took advantage of the moment, swiping the fallen Keyblade off the floor and Aerial Dodged into the air.

"This one's for Sora!" Kairi cried as she thrusted her weapon downward into Saix's exposed back. **"IT'S OVER!"**

As Kairi ripped the Keyblade out of her enemy's back, she could hear Saix whisper, "I...I misjudged you."

"Whatever you and the Organization are planning, it's not going to succeed!" Kairi shouted angrily.

In the back of her mind, Naminé was rolling her eyes. _"Out of all the cool things you could say, that's the best you could come up with?"_

"For someone who just got the snot beaten out of him," Kairi observed, "he's not acting like someone who lost."

Indeed, Saix stood there in Kingdom Hearts' glow, his hair shadowed over his face barely concealing a dark smile. "If...If I had a heart...this would be where I die of laughter."

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Saix only gave her a maniacal grin. "You just keep fighting with all your heart, Kairi," were his final cryptic words before he returned to his data's storage, leaving Kairi and Naminé the uneasy feeling that they'd just played right into the Organization's hands.


	19. Illusions & Stolen Property

"We finally beat over half of the Organization, right?" Kairi asked. "So why aren't we celebrating?"

_"You didn't hear Saix's tone?"_ Naminé replied. _"The Organization WANTS us to fight them for some reason."_ She sighed. _"What for, I can't even begin to imagine."_

Kairi walked over to one of the cascading waterfalls and splashed some cold water over her face. "Isn't there some other way to get out of here? I mean, shouldn't there be at least a Save Point or something?"

_"Kairi? This is the Organization we're talking about. They could just summon one of those corridors of darkness and teleport out of here,"_ Naminé explained. _"Unless you want to try to go through all those Nobodies again, I think it's best we just keep fighting."_

Kairi shrugged. "Not like we have much of a choice, do we?" She started up the ramp for the umpteenth time. "So who's left exactly?"

Naminé thought for a moment. _"If I remember correctly, the last six members of the Organization are DiZ's...I mean, Ansem the Wise's disciples."_

"Disciples?" Kairi repeated. "Don't you mean apprentices?"

_"Same thing,"_ Naminé huffed impatiently. _"Anyway, these guys aren't to be taken lightly."_

Kairi grinned. "Come on, Naminé. You've been with me for how long? Have I ever taken it easy?" To the right of Axel's cove was the symbol that looked like a rounded block. Kairi took a deep breath. "Here we go again."

Before the light even finished fading, Kairi could hear the unmistakable sound of a storm howling around her. She took a quick look at her surroundings. "The rock," she groaned. "It had to be this stupid rock! This is the third time I've been here!"

_"What are you talking about?"_ Naminé asked curiously. _"We've only been here once and that was with Darkside."_

Kairi pursed her lips together. "Oh yeah. You're right."

_"Are you okay, Kairi?"_ Naminé voiced with concern. _"You're not still freaked out about that dream, are you?"_

Kairi's eyes widened in surprise. "How'd you..." Then she stopped herself. "Never mind." She stood silent for a few seconds. "You saw the entire thing?"

In the back of her mind, Naminé nodded. _"Sorry, I know it was a violation of privacy. But you had me worried when your body just gave out."_

Kairi shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It was just a stupid dream anyways."

Naminé giggled. _"More like a fantasy. I'm surprised you and Sora were finally going to kiss!"_ Kairi blushed slightly. _"Who knows? It might happen for real when we get out of this mess."_

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like that's going to happen. I'm going to end up dead at this rate."

Naminé laughed again. _"Way to look on the bright side of things, Kairi."_

The data streams sparked out of nowhere and began to take shape. Kairi tightened her grip on the Keyblade. "It's showtime," she muttered.

Before her stood a young looking man, his bluish-gray hair obscured one half of his face giving him a dark, shifty look.

Naminé gasped. Kairi immediately felt the shock and astonishment in her emotions. "Naminé, talk to me! Who is this guy?"

_"Zexion! He's..."_ Naminé's voice stopped abruptly.

"Naminé?" Kairi searched her heart and mind, but it was as if something had built a wall between them. "Naminé!" She whipped her head toward Zexion. "What did you do with Naminé?!"

Zexion shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe she abandoned you."

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "You expect me to believe that?"

Zexion crossed his arms, placing his chin on his hand in thought. "Well, you don't have to. But realize this, princess. The way you've grown and evolved..." He chuckled. "There's no place for you in this world."

Kairi maintained her icy glare. "Sorry, riddles aren't exactly my forte. If you've got something to say, spit it out!"

The Cloaked Schemer laughed again. "How about I just show you?" He waved his hand and instantly darkness swept the field, enveloping Kairi's surroundings. The only thing visible was her own body. After a few seconds, the darkness lifted. Zexion had disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" Kairi turned her head one way then the other. There was no sign of him. Suddenly she heard some footsteps from behind her. She whirled around and saw...

"Sora? Riku?" She let out a sigh of relief. "Aren't you two a sight for sore eyes!" Kairi was taken completely off guard when Sora and Riku drew their weapons with cold indifference etched on their faces. "Uh, guys?"

Sora and Riku charged at Kairi, their Keyblades flashing through the air. She leapt back a few feet. "What's wrong with you two? Don't you recognize me?"

"Of course we do," Riku said as he and Sora trained their weapons on her. "You're the one responsible for destroying our home."

"What?" Kairi raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Sora and Riku glanced at each other. "Can't believe someone as bright and cheerful as you is stupid and blind to the truth," Sora sneered. "I think it's better if we had never met you!"

Kairi's arms dropped. "I..."

"Do we have to spell it out for you?" Sora shouted impatiently. "If it weren't for you, our home might never have been destroyed in the first place!"

The Keyblade masters started forward causing Kairi to back up even further. "They're only drawn to the strongest of hearts, Kairi!" Riku roared. "And whose heart is more powerful than a Princess of Heart?"

Kairi's eyes widened. "You don't mean..."

"The Heartless invaded Destiny Islands because of you!" Sora shouted accusingly.

"But the worlds were restored!" Kairi stammered. "There wasn't any..."

"Shut up!" Riku snapped. "If you had stayed on the islands like you were supposed to, then I wouldn't have had to come to your rescue."

Kairi was about to say something, but she couldn't think of a single counter-argument. Riku gave her a sick grin. "Haven't you realized yet? If you hadn't leapt blindly into the darkness, I wouldn't have had to waste my time babysitting you!"

"But, Riku..." She felt the heel of her boot make contact with empty air. Kairi glanced behind her and was stunned to find that she had been cornered to the edge of the platform.

"And to think I could ever love you!" Sora shouted. "Do you honestly believe that I stayed with you because I loved you?" He let out an evil laugh. "I only hung around because I felt sorry for you! Sorry for you being a pathetic, helpless and weak girl who only got in our way!"

Despite her instincts, Kairi's eyes started to tear up. "Sora..." It hurt her heart to hear those words coming from Sora's mouth.

"I mean, look at you! No matter how much training you do, no matter how much you want to be one of us, you're always going to be some scared, little girl who always needs to be looked after!" Sora shook his head in disgust. "And you look like you've ballooned a few pounds!" As far as she was concerned, that last comment was WAY below the belt. It was like being slammed with a sledgehammer across the face.

Kairi's eyes were reddened with tears, her weapon hung loosely by her side. "Sora..." Her bottom lip was quivering. The words had struck deep sorrow within her heart. Sora and Riku were now standing on both sides of her, weapons at the ready.

"And this stupid charm of yours?" Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out Kairi's lucky charm. "I don't even know why I took this lousy piece of junk in the first place!" He hurled the star off the edge which was swallowed up by the darkness.

Kairi stood silent for a moment. She looked at Sora as if it were her first time laying eyes on him. Then a big smirk appeared on her lips. "That's all I needed to know." She slammed her Keyblade into Sora's stomach. "You're definitely not Sora!"

She could hear Riku's footsteps echoing behind her. Kairi whirled around, grabbed Riku's outstretched arm and flipped him straight into Sora. Clouds of darkness smoked over their fallen forms, leaving a wounded and injured Zexion on his knees. "How? How could you see through my illusion like that?"

Kairi shook her head in amusement. "The lucky charm thing was a big mistake." She reached for her belt and revealed the star that was attached to it. "Sora gave it back to me when he came back home." She wiped the tear streaks off her face. "I am SO going to make you pay for that fat comment!"

Zexion stood up, shaking off the pain. "There's no Naminé to help you this time, princess." A block of light appeared in his hand transforming itself into his weapon: a lexicon.

"Whatever, goth boy," Kairi snaps getting into her fighting stance. "Maybe you and Cloud should get together sometime." She grinned at the thought. "Create an "Emo's Anonymous" club or something."

* * *

Rikku had wasted no time in telling Yuna and Paine about Riku's orders. Now the three fairies had split up again on their different ways attempting to make ends finally meet.

Meanwhile, Jack Skellington and Jack Sparrow still found themselves lost without a clue. Sparrow bent over gasping for breath. "We've been at this for hours now! Don't you have any idea where we're going?"

The Pumpkin King scratched his head. "Sorry, I didn't realize this world was so big!"

Captain Sparrow grabbed onto Skellington's arm for support. "Maybe I should start leading. A captain always has an internal sense of direction after all. Savvy?"

And that's when Aladdin's group appeared around the corner.

"You!" Aladdin and Jack Sparrow shouted in unison. They stared into each other's eyes, unflinching. Without warning, the former street-rat and the devious pirate drew swords and started swiping at each other. Skellington and Mulan looked at one another, confused.

After a few minutes, Jack Skellington calmly grabbed both of their heads in each hand and lifted them off the ground, separating the two of them at arms length. "Please, friends! If there's a problem, you should be talking it out, not attacking each other!"

Sparrow struggled to free himself but to no avail. He pointed his sword at Aladdin. "That little bugger stole my compass!"

"Like you should talk!" Aladdin shot back, his legs flailing in the air. "You tried to swipe my wallet!"

Both Jack and Aladdin kept arguing until Simba finally had enough. He let out a mighty earth-shattering roar that silenced the bickering duo.

"That's enough!" Simba growled. "In case you two hadn't noticed, we're all on the same side!"

Mulan nodded in agreement. "He's right. We're wasting time!" She brushed some stray strands of hair out of her battle-weary face. "For all we know, the enemy might have already won." With the fighting stopped, Jack Skellington finally released his grip on the two swordsmen and set them down gently.

"Well, what do you suggest, lass?" Jack Sparrow asked, crossing his arms. "Do you have any idea where we're supposed to go?"

The words had just left his mouth when Paine popped out of the air in a shower of stardust. "There you guys are."

The Captain blinked and massaged his forehead. "First a talking cat and now pixies. Where's all the rum gone?"

The others ignored him. "Any news?" Mulan asked.

Paine nodded. "I've been told to tell you guys that everyone's supposed to regroup at the mineshaft."

Mulan bowed in gratitude. "Thank you." Paine nodded again and disappeared without another word. Mulan turned to the others. "Well, does that answer your question, Mr. Sparrow?"

The pirate's eyes narrowed. "That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow! And no, it didn't answer my question."

"What do you mean?"

Aladdin smiled grimly. "Do you know where the mineshaft is?" Everyone looked at each other, hoping that one of them would know the answer.

Jack Sparrow shook his head in disbelief. "So it's back to the original plan, eh? Run around and hope for the best?"

Mulan stared at him sternly. "If you have a better plan, we're all ears."

Captain Sparrow grinned. "As a matter of fact, if ol' Laddie here would kindly give back the compass he stole from me..."

Aladdin raised an eyebrow. "Only if you return the rubies you swiped from me first." There was another awkward tension hanging in the air.

Mulan rolled her eyes. "Will you boys just give each other the other person's property back already?!"

After Aladdin and Jack Sparrow (cautiously) returned their belongings to their rightful owners, Sparrow kissed his compass. "Thank ye, Laddie. Now as I was saying..." He flipped open the cover, revealing the compass needle spinning crazily.

"How exactly are you supposed to use that, Sparrow?" Aladdin asked. "I couldn't make any sense of what it was pointing at!"

"That's because you weren't handling her right, Laddie. This compass points toward whatever the holder most desires." The arrow finally stopped spinning and pointed north-east. "Well, it's pointing that way!"

"Alright!" Jack Skellington shouted enthusiastically. "Mulan, Aladdin, Simba, Captain Sparrow..." He pointed outward in dramatic fashion. "We're off!" Jack Skellington started forward with Aladdin and Simba trailing behind.

"Off to get some rum, that is," Jack Sparrow chuckled to himself.

Mulan overheard him muttering. "What was that?"

Sparrow waved off the question dismissively. "Oh, nothing. Just said we're off to run and all that." Mulan gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing as she ran after the others. "Note to self," Jack Sparrow murmured, "Learn to control output of first-person narration."


	20. Kairi vs the Cloaked Schemer

"Let's review, shall we? It's been over five hours now; I've beaten over half of the Organization; only gotten two hours of rest; I'm cold, tired, and cranky; I've been forced to experience a living nightmare; Naminé's connection's been jammed; and I'm now facing some shady drug addict who just called me fat." Kairi sighed. "Isn't life wonderful?"

"You know," Zexion was saying, "I'd rather not have to fight you."

"Yeah? Well, that makes two of us," Kairi replied as she stared down her opponent. "So why don't you go jump off a cliff or something?"

Zexion chuckled. "You misunderstand me. I said I didn't want to fight you. It's not my style." The book in his hand started to levitate mysteriously. "However, I never said that I wasn't going to hurt you!"

"A book, huh?" Kairi thought. "What's that thing supposed to do?"

With a wave of his hand, Zexion's lexicon hovered before him and began to flip its pages rapidly as if it were possessed by an evil spirit. Kairi braced herself.

**"Fio libri vultus!"** The Nobody's seal appeared in front of Zexion as the book's pages faced Kairi. It was as if a giant spotlight flashed itself in front of her eyes. Before she knew what was happening, an unyielding force yanked her from behind. Zexion and the battleground shrunk from view as if she were flying backward down a long tunnel.

When Kairi regained her bearings, she found that she was no longer on the island. A quick look around told her that she was probably stuck in one of Zexion's illusions again. Kairi could still hear the wind howling around her, but the entire battlefield was dark, gray and foggy. The area seemed to stretch on for miles, but she knew better. "What is this?!" Kairi shouted. "You can't fight me yourself?" As if in response, hundreds upon hundreds of books popped out of thin air and began to circle around her like vultures. She tightened her grip on the Keyblade. "This is going to leave some serious papercuts."

Books swirled around Kairi, barraging her from all sides. A couple of them rattled her ribcage, another smashed into the small of her back. She swung the Keyblade futilely as every inch of her body got pounded. It was like being smacked around with a meat tenderizer. And whatever part of her that didn't get bruised became sliced or cut from the pages' sharp edges. Over the din of flapping paper, she could hear Zexion's taunting laughter.

"It's deplorable! A Keyblade wielder who can't even defend herself!" Kairi caught a glimpse of a black-hooded figure beyond her range. "You're not even one of the Keyblade's chosen! If something like this stops you, then you really are hopeless!"

Kairi mentally slapped her cheeks, attempting to focus. "Come on, girl! Think!" She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. "What would Sora do in this situation?" The books circled around her rapidly like a makeshift hurricane, pinning her position to where she stood.

"Give it up!" Zexion mocked. "Accept your fate and sink into the darkness!" Kairi took a inhaled deeply and tried to remember what Sora and Riku had taught her.

The memory of her and Sora practicing on the beach forced itself to the front of her mind. _"If you can't avoid the oncoming attack, it's best to charge straight through it..."_ Kairi's eyes snapped open. She tucked the Keyblade under her arm and Dodge Flipped straight into the tornado's wall. Her legs kicked out as hard as she could, destroying a couple of books and creating a gap in the process.

Finally free from her entrapment, Kairi quickly checked herself. She could see and feel numerous purple bruises and cuts along her bare skin. She instinctively raised her Keyblade to heal but stopped herself. There was no Naminé to rely on at the moment, so she had no idea when her magic would return if she used it all up. "Just grin and bear it," she muttered under her breath.

The books fanned out and dive-bombed at Kairi whose eyes narrowed at the incoming onslaught. She swiped the Keyblade with such intense focus, the first few books exploded into nothingness before they even came close. Slowly but surely, her attacks began to become more sharper. The Keyblade was hitting its targets with finer precision. Books swooped in from every direction, but Kairi was destroying them left and right. It was as if she could feel Sora's hands wrapped around hers, guiding each stroke to wherever it needed to be. Zexion watched all of this from a distance, shocked that an amateur warrior was fighting as if she had a lifetime of experience.

Suddenly all the books that were flocking around her vanished. Kairi still felt the adrenaline within coursing through her. "What's the matter, Zexy? Your library card expired?" Darkness swept the entire field. The only objects that were visible were three circles of light appearing in a triangle formation on the ground and Kairi herself. Two were red, one was blue. Hovering above the blue circle was Zexion's lexicon. However, the blue light was constantly switching its position with one of the other two.

"I guess depending on sheer quantity isn't the answer," Zexion called from the darkness. "So, I'll make it up with brute quality instead. Catch me if you can, princess..."

* * *

"So anyway, I was trying to talk to Vincent the other day..." Yuffie began.

"Let me guess," Aerith interrupted. "You were trying to ask him out again but he turned you down for the umpteenth time." She shook her head in disbelief. "Honestly, Yuffie. Can't you find somebody else your own age?"

"Uh huh. Last I heard, you were a year older than Cloud."

"Your point?"

"Well, its just that in today's society, everyone expects the guy to be older than the girl when it comes to relationships." Yuffie smirked. "Speaking of which, are you and Cloud still a couple?"

Aerith blushed. "What makes you say that?"

Yuffie shrugged. "Ever since that whole Sephiroth back-stabbing incident, I just figured..."

Aerith let out a heavy sigh. "For the last time, you're confusing me with my twin sister, Aeris Gainsborough. I'm Aerith."

The Materia Hunter giggled. "Whatever you say, Aerith."

"Are you two ladies done gossiping?" Cid huffed impatiently. "Cause if you're not busy, you might want to look up!" He pointed out to the purplish-hued sky where a single flaming object streaked across the backdrop.

Yuffie shielded her eyes and squinted. As the object got closer, Tron said, "Judging by the speed, velocity and trajectory of the object, it seems to be heading straight for the Great Maw."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Yuffie exclaimed. "Let's go see what it is!"

As the group headed for the Great Maw, the speeding object finally made a ground-shaking impact, sending huge shockwaves that could be felt from miles away.

Where once there was flat, barren wasteland, now stood a crater the size of 20 Xemnas' Dragon ships. And in the very center of the impact was the unmistakable, critically injured form of Cloud Strife.

Aerith was the first to reach Cloud's side. She immediately cast Curaga, healing most of his external injuries. Despite her best efforts, though, Cloud was still in extreme pain and was losing consciousness due to extreme shock. She placed a warm hand under his head, gently lifting it to clear the airway better. "Who did this to you?" Cloud's lips were moving, but his voice was barely audible. Aerith put her head closer.

"He's...coming..." Cloud groaned.

Aerith's eyes widened. "Who? Sephiroth?"

Cloud struggled to talk, to warn them. With the last of his will, he managed to say the words, "...Not...Sephiroth..." And with that, Cloud's neck went limp as he fell unconscious. Aerith turned to the others only to discover that they all had the same shocked, confused expressions on their faces.

* * *

_"This is like that stupid game with Luxord,"_ Kairi thought. She ran into the center of the triangle and focused on the seemingly random pattern of lights. Her eyes darted back and forth as it followed the book's trail. After a few seconds, the book finally stopped in its tracks.

Kairi instinctively dove for the highlighted circle before the perimeter sealed itself with an impenetrable wall of light. Kairi knew she made the right choice when she noticed an unyielding barrage of meteors raining outside her sanctuary. Then she realized that she wasn't alone. Looking up, she saw Zexion's lexicon hovering above.

Kairi Aerial Dodged at the remaining book and let fly a lightning-fast combo. Each hit produced a grunt of pain that felt extremely satisfying to her ears. With one final swing, she slammed the Keyblade into the lexicon's binding. As soon as it made contact, the illusion broke and Kairi found herself once more on the floating island. While Zexion was stumbling around like a broken teeter-totter, Kairi charged at him with unrestrained ferocity.

**"IT'S OVER!"** She raised the Keyblade over her head and brought it down with skull-crushing force.

**CLANG!** Kairi was stunned to find her attack being parried. "What in the..." Kairi leapt back to avoid being struck by Zexion's new weapon.

The Cloaked Schemer twirled an identical copy of Kairi's Keyblade in his hand. "Did you really think that I was going to be defeated that easily?" As soon as the last word left his lips, various copies of himself multiplied in front of Kairi's eyes.

"First Larxene, then Demyx, and now you?" Kairi complained, her hand on her hip. "What is with you people and clones?"

"I was able to defeat Riku with his own blade once!" The Zexions darted in and out of Kairi's range, daring her to attack. "And you're still not experienced enough to wield yours yet!"

Kairi laughed. "If you're so good, then why is Riku still alive?" She swiped her Keyblade menacingly. "As for me..." Kairi raised her weapon above her head. **"THUNDER!"** Lightning rained from the sky, instantly obliterating all of Zexion's duplicates. Zexion stood dumbfounded that his clones were obliterated so easily. Kairi looked into Zexion's scared face and smirked. "What now, wuss?!" She charged at him again, momentum and power on her side.

Zexion blocked Kairi's attack, causing the Keyblades to crackle as they both pushed against each other with all their might. Although Zexion was an adult, it was painfully obvious who had more brute force.

"What's the problem?" Kairi taunted as she forced Zexion onto his knees, "Don't work out much?" She neatly disarmed Zexion of his weapon and placed the Keyblade's tip at his throat. "Get up," she growled. The Cloaked Schemer hastily got to his feet and began to back away from his opponent.

Kairi tapped the Keyblade against her palm, slowly approaching Zexion. "It's not possible!" he shouted. "You can't be this skilled!" She only glared at him with unnerving tension. "No! You can't!" His eyes darted back and forth, looking for an escape. Kairi could feel a growl rumbling in her throat just waiting to get out. She puffed up her chest, stood straight and tall and...

"BOO!" Kairi barked, scaring Zexion witless. He turned to flee...

...and immediately ran smack-dab into a palm tree. Kairi didn't waste any time in taking advantage of the situation as Zexion staggered around trying to shake off his stunned state. She darted around behind him, crouched and swept her leg, knocking Zexion off balance. It took a few moments for him to realize that there was no ground left to catch him as he toppled off the edge of the earthen platform. Kairi stood up and brushed herself off. A satisfied grin appeared on her face as Zexion's screams faded into the darkness from whence he came.


	21. Namine's Turn & Movie Critics

"Naminé..." Kairi was leaning against a wall with her eyes closed, desperately focusing on getting a connection through to Naminé. "Please, Naminé! Answer me!"

She was starting to lose hope as the minutes passed. After what seemed like hours, Naminé's voice rang out, _"Kairi, can you hear me?"_

Kairi let out a sigh of relief. "Naminé! Finally! I was getting worried there!"

_"What happened? I'm talking to you one moment and then something interfered with our connection."_ Naminé's confusion was apparent in her tone. _"I kept trying to talk to you, but nothing seemed to get through."_

"So you could see and hear everything that happened but couldn't say anything?"

_"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that."_

Kairi crossed her arms. "Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault!"

_"It's just..."_ Naminé hesitated, unsure of what she was about to say. Kairi waited patiently. _"I just don't like feeling helpless. That's all."_

Kairi bit her bottom lip. "Naminé..."

_"I mean, it was one thing to be held hostage,"_ Naminé explained bitterly. _"But not having a body of my own and being forced to watch my friends get hurt..."_ Her sentence trailed off.

Kairi smiled understandably. "Listen, I'm okay. There's no point beating yourself up over it." Kairi wished that she could've given Naminé a hug or a reassuring squeeze. "All that matters is that we're both still alive."

Naminé was silent for a moment. Then she asked,_ "So, who's next?"_

Kairi respected her choice about changing the subject. "I think we're going to the one on the right."

The next blue cove that they were targeting seemed to hold...

"A hairpin?" Kairi guessed.

_"I think it's more like a...tomahawk."_ Naminé replied.

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Out of everything that it could be, you choose a tomahawk?"

_"Well, it's too big to be a comb. And we already did the whole hair accessory thing back at Larxene."_

Kairi thought for a moment. "You've got a point."

As the light began to envelop her for the umpteenth time, Kairi sang to herself, "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me..." This time the light deposited them into the circular arena that Larxene fought in. "Hey, we're in that arena again."

Naminé coughed._ "You'd think they'd have come up with something more original."_

The data streams appeared to form a giant, muscular man with the build of a rhino.

"Holy..." Kairi gasped, taking a few steps backward. "And I thought Riku was ripped!"

_"His name's Lexaeus,"_ Naminé quoted._ "I haven't made much contact with him, so I wouldn't know how good this guy is."_ After a few seconds, she said, _"Hey, Kairi. You mind if I take this one?"_

Kairi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How come?"

_"Well, I wasn't exactly any help in the last fight,"_ Naminé said bashfully.

Kairi shook her head impatiently. "Naminé, I told you already! It was the Organization's fault!"

_"Even so, I've been wanting to do some fighting for awhile. Besides,"_ she added, _"I think you deserve to rest a bit."_

Kairi stood silent for a moment. "Alright, fine. I'm trusting you not to get us killed, though."

Naminé giggled._ "Thanks for the vote of confidence."_ Kairi let her consciousness sink into the depths of her heart as Naminé's form emerged from her body.

"Naminé," Lexaeus said as Naminé's hair tinkled from red to blond.

"Aeleus," Naminé replied curtly. Lexaeus' eyebrows shot up at the sound of his original name. The two stared at each other.

_"Not much for words, this one,"_ Kairi observed.

"Thanks to you, Sora and Riku, the Organization lost its hold on Castle Oblivion," Lexaeus stated.

"Um...you're welcome?"

"The Organization was undefeatable. But betrayal led to corruption within our ranks. And now..." He heaved the giant tomahawk over his right shoulder. "I was destroyed once by the dark wielder." The behemoth shook his head. "You and him are almost the same. No matter how much you deny it, I can see that there is darkness residing within you."

Naminé glared at him. "What are you talking about? A Princess of Heart doesn't have any darkness inside their heart!"

"That might have been true when you and the princess were one and the same. However, the doubt and fear that bind your heart...they are born from the darkness. Your heart is no longer pure light. As is all hearts cannot be pure light."

"And no heart can be pure darkness!" Naminé shot back. "Even in the blackest darkness, there will always be the brightest light!"

Lexaeus chuckled slowly. "Believe what you will. But know this, Naminé. Your heart is already tainted and its power will destroy you!" Lexaeus roared as energy suddenly emanated off of him in massive waves of power, pushing Naminé back. "See the power of darkness! I, Lexaeus, will not yield to a frail-hearted craven! Now, end your resistance, and let the darkness in!" Wave after wave of raw energy pulsated from his body with every word.

_"Naminé,"_ Kairi whispered._ "What's the scouter say about his power level?"_

Naminé rolled her eyes. "Seriously. You know how old that joke is?"

* * *

"...and then I find out that his father's the King of Thieves!" Jasmine exclaimed. "I mean, it's sort of royalty, but..."

While Lady Daisy and Queen Minnie continued to watch for signs of the battle outside, the Princesses of Heart occupied themselves by gossiping/arguing over their significant others and their own adventures.

"That's nothing!" Cinderella shook her head. "Did you know that I once saved my world's timeline? My stepmother took the Fairy Godmother's wand and..."

"Not that story again!" Belle interrupted. "It was bad enough that they made trilogies after you two."

"Like you should talk!" Jasmine countered. "You had a TV series and multiple movies starring you. They even got that Paige girl to play your voice the entire time!"

"At least all of you have boyfriends or husbands!" Alice complained. "Me? I'm stuck with a guy who's got a hat fetish and some creepy disappearing cat that I'd like nothing more than to beat the snot out of!"

"I heard the Best Man is single," Aurora stated. "Maybe you should try him."

"Really? I thought he was seeing someone." All conversation immediately halted as every eye turned toward Snow White.

"You're joking," Cinderella said. "Sora's friend is actually seeing someone? Who?"

Snow White shook her head. "I have no idea. It was just a rumor I heard." Armed with a new topic for gossip, the ladies began to speculate the mystery girl's identity.

Meanwhile, Chicken Little, Mushu and Stitch were busy in their own conversation. "I thought Lilo was supposed to come with you," Chicken Little said.

Stitch just shrugged. "Lilo...with...ohana." It was still difficult for him to speak fluent English most of the time.

"By the way," Mushu began, "I'm curious. How exactly did Disney pick you up again?" He looked at the vertically-challenged chicken suspiciously. "Did Pixar send you?"

Chicken Little shook his head. "Nah. Pixar was busy with Cars at the time." He crossed his arms. "Still can't believe they used that Scrubs guy for my voice. I sound nothing like him!"

"Don't know why you're complaining. I had Eddie Murphy in the first movie. Eddie Murphy! The Beverly Hills Cop, the Nutty Professor, the Dr. Doolittle! Then he shifted over to that one CGI series with the talking mule and I was stuck with some unknown comedian!"

"Well, if we should be complaining about anyone, it should be Stitch here." Chicken Little jerked a thumb toward Experiment 626. "They gave him four movies, three of them were direct-to-DVD and a TV series. We were never that popular!"

Mushu nodded in agreement. Then he looked around. "Speaking of which, where's is the little koala, anyway?" A thunderous crash shook the room as the sounds of Stitch attacking the buffet table in the reception hall came drifting in. Genie, Bambi and Dumbo immediately headed for the source of the commotion.

Chicken Little sighed. "Come on, Mushu. We better go and stop him before he eats all the silverware again."


	22. Namine vs the Taciturn Stalwart & Duh!

With an Amazonian cry ringing through the air, Naminé charged at the Taciturn Stalwart. She was almost in Keyblade's reach when Lexaeus's arm shot out. His massive hand palmed her face, effectively stopping her assault. His fingers tightened their grip on her head, lifting her entire body off the ground. Naminé's limbs flailed about, desperately trying to loosen his hold. Before she knew what happened, Naminé was flung upside-down, causing her to slam into one of the posts lining the arena.

As she felt her body start to unpeel from the pillar, Lexaeus smashed his tomahawk into the ground causing pillars of earth to burst out, pummeling Naminé's defenseless form.

_"This guy's all business, isn't he?"_ Kairi asked rhetorically. _"He's like a gorilla...without the fur."_

"Not a good time for jokes right now," Naminé groaned as she massaged the small of her back. "That was extremely painful." She winced in pain. "And pitiful. He didn't even need to use his weapon much."

_"Best thing to do is just brush yourself off and keep moving forward, right?"_

"Right." Naminé cricked her neck back into place and ran straight for Lexaeus again. He tried to palm her face once more, but before she got into range, Naminé flipped into the air, pirouetting upside-down over the behemoth's head and smacking him from behind with the Keyblade. "You know what they say, the bigger they are..."

As she quickly attempted another flip-and-run, Lexaeus' hand shot out and managed to snag Naminé's leg in mid-leap. Naminé could only brace herself as he slammed her into the ground like a rag doll. Surprisingly, her body rebounded off the tiling with surprising trajectory. While Naminé was flying through the air, Lexaeus leapt up, barreled down on her and brought down his tomahawk, sending her crashing down to earth causing a huge terran shockwave that reverberated throughout the arena.

_"...the more bones they break,"_ Kairi finished.

Naminé winced in pain. "That...smarts," she groaned. The ground beneath Lexaeus rumbled as he landed with a crash.

"Give up," he stated simply. The memory witch slowly got to her feet.

"Like Hades I will!" she shot back.

Lexaeus chuckled. "So be it." He roared again as his aura of power increased exponentially, pushing Naminé to the edge of the arena.

_"So this guy's a total Super Saiyan rip-off,"_ Kairi said. _"He may be powerful physically, but our strength comes from the heart, remember?"_

Naminé gritted her teeth. "You've got that right, sister."

* * *

"So there you are!" Yuna cried impatiently. Tidus and the others had made a much needed pit stop after they were ambushed by some Heartless.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Tidus greeted. "Have you found the others yet?" Yuna quickly relayed Riku's orders. "The mineshaft? Where's that?"

Peter Pan rubbed his chin in thought. "On my way over, I think I remember passing by the entrance." He soared up above a few feet. "It'll only take ten minutes if we fly," Peter said.

Tidus shook his head. "Hate to tell you this, Peter," he said, "but not all of us have useful faeries that can help us out." Yuna cleared her throat, glaring at him with a stern expression. Tidus winced and quickly added, "Excluding present company of course." Yuna nodded, satisfied with his amendment.

Wakka started tapping him on the shoulder. "Um...Tidus?"

"Well, anyone can fly!" Peter replied. "You wanna try?" Tinker Bell was tugging on Peter's sleeve trying to get his attention, resulting in her being waved off. "Not now, Tink!"

Tidus' eyes grew rounder. "Sure! I've never flown before!" he shouted excitedly.

"Tidus..." Auron coughed but was completely ignored.

"All you need is a little bit of pixie dust and some happy thoughts!" Tinker Bell kicked Peter in the back of the head. He whipped around impatiently. "Tink, what's gotten into you?"

"Happy thoughts, huh?" Tidus closed his eyes. "I wonder what kind of..."

"TIDUS!" Auron, Yuna and Wakka yelled in unison.

Tidus' eyes snapped open. "What?"

Wakka jerked his thumb behind him. "It's right over there." A few feet behind the group was the mineshaft entrance.

Tidus stood silent for a moment. "Oh." He grinned in embarrassment. "I guess we stay put and wait for the others then."

Auron rolled his eyes. "Good idea," he said sarcastically.

Yuna began to hover away, but Tidus stopped her. "Hey, Yuna? Do you really have to leave now or you wanna hang around with us for a bit longer?" Tidus smiled warmly at her. "I've never talked to a real faerie before."

Yuna winked coyly at Tidus. "Why not? I've got some time to kill."

* * *

Naminé didn't know what else to do. The only advantage she had at the moment was her speed and agility allowing her to escape most of Lexaeus' assaults. Raw unrestrained power kept pouring out that encased him with an undeniably strong aura. "Doesn't this guy ever quit?" Naminé huffed.

_"I know!"_ Kairi agreed. _"He's almost as crazy as Saix!"_

"Guess it's a good thing that we beat Saix already. We don't have to worry about them double-teaming us."

She raised the Keyblade over her head and swung it with all her strength. Lexaeus countered with his own weapon and parried the attack. As the two weapons collided, Naminé used the temporary momentum to aim a swift kick to the behemoth's shin, causing him to grunt in pain. He made a grab for Naminé with his free hand, but she had already dashed out of range.

Lexaeus let out another ferocious roar as his aura's power increased even further. With each step Lexaeus took, the ground shook underneath their feet. "Feel the true power of darkness!" The giant threw his weapon into the air and began stomping, causing huge quakes that forced mounds of earth to jut its way out to the surface. Naminé was forced to leap from earth pillar to pillar in an attempt to avoid the attacks. The Taciturn Stalwart finished by jumping into the air, grabbing his weapon and slamming it into the ground, causing a huge shockwave that knocked Naminé off her feet and flying into the pillar again. Lexaeus took advantage of the lull in battle to charge up his energy once more before taking off into the sky.

Naminé rubbed her aching butt as she stared at Lexaeus' form shrinking into a tiny flaming dot. "You've gotta be kidding me! He can fly too?!" She spat out some dirt that got into her mouth. "Who does this guy think he is, Superman?"

_"I can't believe Lexaeus can channel so much energy!"_ Kairi said in awe. _"I just hope he's not taking steroids. It's bad for the heart."_

"Uh, earth to Kairi. Nobodies don't have hearts, remember?" Naminé shook her head impatiently. "Besides, you should be more focused on our life expectancy first!"

_"Right. So, what do we do?"_ Naminé's eyes quickly scanned the battleground.

"Maybe we could throw all of these rocks at him," she suggested, kicking over some leftover dirt.

Lexaeus was at the peak of his trajectory and began rocketing back toward the arena. _"Remember what Riku said? Use the environment around you!"_ Naminé didn't get it. _"The pillars!"_ Kairi shouted. _"Climb on top of the pillars!"_

Naminé was stunned. "Wait...we can actually climb these? I thought they marked an invisible roof or something."

_"You see how high that ogre is?"_ Kairi pointed out. _"There's no roof! So, climb up already!"_

"Don't have to tell me twice," Naminé said, hugging the pillar. She quickly shimmied up with ironic ease.

_"Guess all those years of tree-climbing are paying off, huh?"_ Kairi commented. Naminé reached the top of the pillar and crouched to keep steady. Lexaeus plummeted to earth with a meteor impact, causing enormous stalagmites to burst out of the ground which would've destroyed anything standing.

However, the blast caused Naminé to lose her balance. Her legs flew out from under her and she landed with the pillar smashing itself between her legs. "You know, if I were a guy, this would be hurting like hell right now," Naminé muttered through clenched teeth. She placed her feet back on the top surface and stood up with shaking knees. "Now what?"

_"Superfly!"_ Kairi shouted.

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "What?"

_"Sorry, wrestling reference. Just leap off the top turnbuckle and go into a Five-star Frog Splash!"_

"Kairi!" Naminé snapped. "Enough with the wrestling analogies; I got it already." She said a quick prayer under her breath, then jumped straight at Lexaeus, her blonde hair flying behind her. Lexaeus looked up and immediately tried to counter by throwing his tomahawk at her.

Naminé landed on the airborne weapon, propelled herself off the makeshift platform, smacked the back of Lexaeus' head with the Keyblade again and quickly leapt off. While his back was exposed, she spun into a lightning fast leg combo to the kidneys before she was forced to jump out of range.

She gritted her teeth in frustration. "Why won't he fall?! I smashed him with the Keyblade and he's still standing!"

"Naminé," Lexaeus roared as he summoned his weapon back into his hand, "I have the power of darkness on my side! Unlike light, the darkness is infinite!"

Like a bull in a china shop, Lexaeus shouldered his tomahawk and charged at Naminé. _"It's not over yet!"_ Kairi cried. _"Everything has a weak point! Lexaeus might be built like a tank, but there's one surefire way to bring any guy to his knees!"_

Naminé nodded. "I didn't want to have to resort to this, but..." She dashed at Lexaeus with superhuman agility. "Wait for it..." It was like playing chicken with a speeding locomotive. As soon as she could see the red in his eyes, Naminé baseball slid underneath Lexaeus' legs, the tomahawk missing her by inches. Then in one swift motion, she slammed the Keyblade upward into Lexaeus' "little boulders."

Lexaeus' aura was immediately extinguished as he collapsed to his knees in pain. The tomahawk hit the ground with a dull thunk as the Taciturn Stalwart's eyes rolled back in their sockets, his mouth gaping open.

_"Um...that wasn't exactly what I meant,"_ Kairi said. _"But that works too."_

The giant gasped for air, struggling to get his wind back, but he eventually just went limp and smoked into nothingness.

"Imagine defeating the entire Organization that way," Naminé giggled. She could just see it now...

_"Where's the fun in..." THWACK!_

_"You really shouldn't have..." KABAM!_

_"Anger and hate are..." CHONG!_/

Naminé shook her head. "Nah. Now that I've done it to their most muscular member, they'll be expecting that."

_"Yeah,"_ Kairi agreed as the light engulfed them again. _"They're probably passing the iron cups around as we speak."_ She quietly sighed. _"A shame really. It would make things go by much faster."_


	23. It's a Small World

_"NO! Anything but that!"_ Naminé screamed. It was finally time for her to face her greatest fear.

"You're going to have to...*urf*...face him sooner or later," Kairi grunted. She was struggling to maintain control of her body because Naminé was fighting her every step of the way.

_"But why now?"_ Naminé whined. _"Can't we do Xaldin, Xigbar or Xemnas first? Why Vexen?"_

Kairi dragged a heavy leg behind her. "What exactly...*urk*...is it about him that...*nngh*...scares you?"

_"Are you kidding? You know how disgusting and perverted the guy is?"_ Kairi could feel Naminé quivering with fright. _"First of all, there's that freaky glare of his. The way he just stares straight through you as if he's got X-ray vision, stripping you with his eyes. It's like once you're in his sights, there's no telling what the guy's got planned for you._

_"There's also the hair! He's like the drag queen from hell! He spends most of the morning shampooing and conditioning that hair of his. Everyday at Castle Oblivion there was always a line to the bathroom because he would be spending hours bleaching it blonde! I mean, you think Marluxia was bad..._

_"And there's the laugh. Oh gawd, that creepy laugh of his! Once you hear it, you'll have nightmares for weeks! It's like nails across a chalkboard times ten!"_

"Then it's a good thing that we've switched to whiteboards then," Kairi commented.

_"I'm serious!"_ Naminé snapped. _"I've also noticed him sneaking into my room when he thought I was gone."_

Kairi's eyebrows shot up. "Really? What'd he do?"

_"Not sure. But my stuff reeked of..."_ Her voice trailed off.

"But, what..." Kairi began, but Naminé interrupted her.

_"And this one time when he was doing the laundry, I happened to pass by and you wouldn't believe what I saw."_

"What?" Kairi asked apprehensively.

_"Vexen was..."_ Naminé was on the verge of crying. _"Vexen was trying on Larxene's panties!"_

Kairi blinked. "That's nothing. One time Sora was wearing a pair of woman's underwear too."

_"Kairi. That was during your 7th birthday party in a game of Truth or Dare. And Sora wore it on his head. I meant Vexen was actually trying it on! That wrinkly old butt of his in that G-string..."_ Kairi felt Naminé shudder again. _"I couldn't eat for days."_

While Naminé had been ranting, Kairi had managed to lug her body in front of Vexen's cove. Kairi began to reach for the symbol with her hand, but she could feel Naminé preventing her arm from extending fully. "Naminé, listen. The sooner we get rid of the old fogie, the sooner you'll have closure and get on with your life."

_"Please, Kairi!"_ Naminé pleaded. _"I'm not ready for this yet!"_

"Look, you don't have to appear if you don't want to. I'll take him on solo. But either way, we have to do this!" With a last bit of effort, Kairi was able to jerk her arm toward Vexen's symbol.

When the light faded, Kairi found herself in front of the gates of Twilight Mansion.

Kairi took a deep breath to calm their heart from beating so fast. "Naminé, please," she said gently. "I know you're scared. But look how far you've gone in terms of bravery. You've helped take down Roxas, Marluxia, Saix and Lexaeus! And they were among the most skilled or strongest of the Organization!" Naminé didn't say anything, so Kairi continued. "Like I said, you don't have to appear. You could just advise me since I don't know about him."

Naminé hiccuped._ "Kairi, I..."_ Before she could say any more, the data streams began to appear.

Kairi could feel Naminé start to shrink back a little. "Naminé, you can do this! Just stay with me!"

Naminé took a few more deep breaths through Kairi._ "Alright, I'll...try."_

Kairi smiled. "Thank you, Naminé."

When the streams finished forming, an old man with grayish-blond locks appeared before Kairi. In one hand was a giant shield that seemed to radiate wisps of smoke. _"Vexen's element is ice,"_ Naminé quoted. _"Be careful, Kairi."_ Vexen stared at the pink-clad redhead as if sizing her up.

Kairi crossed her arms impatiently. "Naminé, I see what you mean. I've only met him and he's already creeping me out."

The old Nobody gave a short bow. "Hello, Kairi. My name is Vexen. But I'm pretty sure you've heard a lot about me. Am I right?"

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "Let's just get this over with, jerk." She went into her fighting stance.

Vexen raised an eyebrow. "Jerk, you say? I guess you've heard those rumors after all." The Chilly Academic didn't bother raising his weapon. Instead he said, "So, how has your existence been...Naminé?" Kairi felt Naminé cringe. "Yes, I know you're in there, Naminé. Remember all the fun times we've had together?"

"Shut up, you old coot!" Kairi growled.

"What? Can't old acquaintances reminisce about old memories?" Vexen grinned. "And you would know all about memories, right?"

Kairi could feel Naminé's courage drain. "Focus, Naminé! Stay strong!"

Vexen wiggled his fingers creepily as if he were a child who couldn't wait to unwrap his birthday present. "Remember Frosty Sundays?" Vexen whispered. "When I used to bring out Mr..."

Naminé shrieked in terror. _"I can't do it! I'm sorry, Kairi!"_ And with that, Naminé's consciousness withdrew from Kairi's reach.

"Naminé!" But Kairi could feel that Naminé had curled up into a little ball and was now hiding in a dark corner of her mind. And the worst part was Vexen somehow knew that she was alone.

He let out his creepy laugh, causing goosebumps along Kairi's skin. "Well, now it's just you and me, princess!"

Vexen snapped his fingers. A data circle with the Nobodies' emblem suddenly appeared below Kairi's feet. For some odd reason, she could feel a slight warm updraft coming from it as if she were standing over a giant blow-dryer. She quickly jumped out of the way, feeling very uncomfortable with heat blowing up her skirt. As soon as her feet touched the grass, the circle began to home in on her new position. "What is this thing?"

"Didn't Naminé tell you that I'm a researcher? The circle underneath your feet is a data scanner." Kairi jumped away again as soon as she felt the warm sensation of heat crawling up her legs. "We can either do this the easy way or..."

"Scan me?" Kairi didn't like where this was heading. "You want to scan something, go buy a girlie magazine. Maybe it'll show you how to actually get a hairstyle that works, hippie boy!"

Vexen shook his head. "All those rumors about me. It's sad, really. Jealous of my wisdom, I guess. I didn't always look like this," he stated with a surprisingly somber tone. "Yes, it's true. These blonde locks of mine used to be all natural and golden. And my face was smooth like a baby's bottom and shone with youthful enthusiasm! But then I sold my heart to science and received this old, sullen face in return."

"Aw, you're gonna make me cry," Kairi snapped, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Still doesn't excuse you for what you did to Naminé." She pointed her weapon at Vexen. "So help me, I'm finishing you off, you abomination! Once and for all!"

Vexen laughed at her bravado. "Oh ho! The princess thinks that she can actually destroy her betters, eh?" Vexen's shield hovered in front of him as trails of diamond dust lifted him inches from the ground. "Then come and catch me if you can!" Kairi didn't want to play Vexen's game, but she could feel the scanner start to home in on her again.

"Anything to keep that scanner from shining through me," she muttered. Kairi tightened her grip on the Keyblade and ran after the old man, the scanning circle shadowing her with every step. Despite being ancient-looking, Vexen was able to glide around the arena as if he were ice-skating on thin air. Kairi occasionally was able to reach him with her Keyblade, but his shield guarded against every single one of her attacks before Vexen glided out of reach again. "Stand still, you coward!"

Suddenly, the data scanner disappeared from view. Unsure of what was going on, Kairi stared intently at Vexen. "Now that my scanner has collected enough of your data..." An orb of light suddenly appeared in his hand. "...I can take it and create a clone of you!" He raised an eyebrow. "A Heartless clone!"

"What?! But there's no darkness in my heart!" Kairi shot back.

Vexen tapped his pointer finger to his forehead. "The knowledge you know does not apply inside this cyberspace."

Kairi blinked in confusion. "What are you..." Before she could finish her thought, the orb of light exploded.

"Behold!" Kairi braced herself. The light faded to reveal a Heartless that looked exactly like...

"Sora?" Indeed, the Heartless that had appeared was not Kairi, but Anti-Sora. Its expressionless face turned this way and that as its arms hung loosely like wet noodles and it wouldn't stay still in one position for more than a second.

Vexen was taken back by the situation. "That wasn't supposed to happen." His head dropped as he began to massage his forehead. "I was sure that I calibrated the..." Vexen's head snapped up. "What am I saying? ATTACK!" Anti-Sora wasted no time and sped along the ground like a hovercraft on water.

Kairi arched back the Keyblade, ready to strike the incoming opponent. Unfortunately, she misjudged the speed and ended up being tackled to the ground. "Get off!" she yelled. Kairi was expecting it to start biting her or something, but like Twilight Thorn, it was curious what its new prey was. Its hands started to rapidly feel her up like an insect's antennae scanning its environment.

"I said to attack her, not play with her!" Vexen yelled, stamping his foot. But Anti-Sora wasn't listening. Kairi grabbed the Heartless' arms only to cringe in disgust by how cold and slimy they felt. She fired a kick at the creature's chest, sending it flying. Kairi quickly got up when she noticed that the Heartless had landed on its feet and was rushing toward her again, its limbs flailing about.

The Princess of Heart didn't know whether to go after Vexen while he was still controlling Anti-Sora or deal with the Heartless first. Her mind was made up for her when Anti-Sora pounced. She stumbled back a few steps, losing her balance. The creature landed on top of Kairi, its searching hands roamed straight toward her...

"Ew! Get off me, you pervert!" Kairi impaled the Keyblade into the creature's stomach, causing it to burst into nothingness. She rubbed her chest and butt self-consciously. "That felt wrong on so many levels."

"Who would've thought that Sora had a dark side?" Vexen chuckled. "That Heartless was based on his data after all. And I never would've imagined..."

"Shut up! Even Sora would never go that far!" Kairi took a running leap into the air, the Keyblade over her head. "You're finished!" At first, Vexen only stared at her with an impassive face. Her weapon looked like it was about to hit without fail. At the very last second, Vexen raised his shield to block the attack, the blade only scraping against the ice.

Before she could react, Vexen had fired a freeze blast at her wrists, encasing them in a giant chunk of ice. The sudden weight caught her off balance and Kairi toppled backward onto the grassy field. Taking advantage of the situation, Vexen swooped upon his prey and blasted her feet too, leaving Kairi stretched out and extremely vulnerable.

_"Oh, why did I choose to wear this skirt?"_ Kairi thought. _"It's starting to ride up again!"_ She looked at Vexen's face and was horrified to see him staring at her with sadistic pleasure. As she tried to pull her arms and legs free, the old man slowly circled around her bound form with intense interest. "When I get free, I'm gonna..."

"You mean "if." "If" you get free," Vexen stated. "You forget that I control the ice element. You'll stay frozen there until I release you." His eyes began traveling downward over her body. "Although to see you becoming a mature young woman does seem to have its perks..."

Kairi's face began to flush furiously. "Hey! My face is up here, Lord Perv!" She could feel numbness set in her hands and feet. "What now? You've got me at the moment. Are you going to summon an icicle or something and stab me with it?"

Vexen's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Heavens, no. I may be heartless, but I have no intention of killing you." A grin immediately plastered itself on his face. "But I'll make you wish that I were."

"Funny way of showing it, summoning that Heartless to attack me while you cower behind your shield." Kairi relaxed her muscles for a few moments as they were getting sore from all the futile pulling. "What's the matter? Afraid to get your own hands dirty?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she realized it. Vexen apparently found the question hysterical as he let out a bone-chilling laugh that sent shivers down Kairi's spine.

"Youth. Wasted on someone as naive as you. I'm a researcher, remember? I'm not at all ashamed to put my hands on my project specimens." Kairi didn't like the sparkle that appeared in the old man's eyes. "I've seen the memories of both Sora and Riku's and there was an interesting fact that I've learned about you." Kairi could feel her heart beat faster from fear. "Your greatest weakness, Kairi." Vexen raised an eyebrow. "This calls for further investigation, wouldn't you say?"

"What?!" Kairi shrieked. "Are you seriously going to cut out my heart?!"

Vexen shook his head with apparent amusement. "It's not your heart I'm calling weak."

Kairi desperately struggled against her frozen bondage as Vexen began to crack his knuckles greedily. "Don't you dare!" she screamed fearfully. The Chilly Academic only gave her his signature "Freaky Glare of Doom." As he drew closer, one last thought popped into her head, _"Naminé, why didn't I listen to you?"_

* * *

Three small figures were making their way through the Crystal Fissure. The Gummi mechanics, Chip and Dale had found themselves completely lost when they happened to stumble upon none other than Jiminy Cricket. He had gotten separated earlier from King Mickey and ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere. Now the tiny trio were looking for anyone that could help them. Although they were far from helpless (Chip and Dale crushed a few Heartless via stray boulder) their vertically challenged attribute was making long distances an impossibility.

"Remember the good ol' days before we became Gummi mechanics?" Dale asked.

"Yeah, I wish the Rescue Rangers hadn't split up." Chip scratched absentmindedly behind his ear. "The pay wasn't good, but at least we made a lot of friends."

"What happened?" Jiminy asked.

Chip frowned. "Fat Cat set fire to our headquarters. We all just managed to make it to the Ranger Wing before it burned down." A tear trailed down the chipmunk's cheek. "It was a sad day for all of us."

Dale patted him on the back reassuringly. "Cheer up! We made him pay for it in the end."

Chip nodded sadly. "Yeah, he finally got what he deserved, but poor Monty hasn't been the same since."

Jiminy was busy scribbling down notes. "Who's Monty?"

"Monterey Jack was one of our teammates," Chip explained. "Fat Cat's henchmen broke his nose. I mean, it stopped him from his cheese attacks, but..."

"He ended up returning to his hometown afterwards to recuperate along with Zipper," Dale finished.

"And Gadget..." Chip sighed. "She was the one who taught us all about Gummi Ships."

"What happened to her?"

"Well, she ended up with a happy ending. Gadget Hackwrench became the president of her own Gummi Ship repair chain." Chip smirked. "She doesn't sit behind a desk, though. Gadget's one of those hands-on supervisors."

"Wait a minute." Jiminy stopped writing and looked up at Chip. "Didn't you wear that fedora hat and flight jacket?" Then he turned to Dale. "And you wore that Hawaiian shirt! I completely forgot about that!"

"Yup!" Dale said proudly, sticking out his chest. "We were the best there ever was!" Then his face dropped. "Of course, now we only wear them for Halloween."

"I remember when I used to be the spokescricket for Walt," Jiminy commented with a sigh. "Those were the days, they were. Poor Walt, bless his soul."

"Hey, what's that?" Chip was pointing at a familar yellow-orange figure in the distance. "Isn't that Pluto?"

Indeed, Pluto had been off on his own little adventure. No one knew where he had gone, what he did or how he got there. But he always seemed to show up whenever the situation called for him. His ears suddenly perked straight up as they caught the faint moan of a stirring character. Propped up against a wall behind some crystals was a semi-conscious woman in black, her limbs limp and her head dropped down to her chest. Pluto trotted up to her and began licking the side of her face.

"Hey, stop...that tickles..." the woman giggled. Undaunted, Pluto kept gently nudging her until her eyes flew open. "CLOUD!" She blinked a few times to regain her bearings. "Where am I?"

As she got to her feet, the dark-haired brunette shook her head and brushed herself off. "I'm back in Radiant Garden, huh?" The faint sounds of battle echoed along the walls. "And it looks like I'm not too late."

Pluto nuzzled against her leg, resulting in her giving a good scratch behind the ears. As soon as the others were in earshot, Chip stuck two fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle. Pluto immediately snapped his head toward the sound. Overjoyed to see some familiar faces, Pluto ran up to them and enthusiastically gave the trio a wet, sloppy lick that drenched them all. The woman walked up to them with a curious expression on her face.

"Who are you three?" she asked.

Jiminy cleared his throat as he stepped forward. "Afternoon, ma'am! I'm..."

"EEK! A talking cricket!" **WHAM!**

* * *

A few minutes later, Tifa Lockhart was still apologizing to Jiminy for trying to step on him. "I'm so sorry about that! I've seen a lot of creatures, but never a talking insect!"

Jiminy was brushing off his hat. Fortunately in her panic, she had missed every single stomp. Now, he was sitting on top of Pluto's head along with Chip and Dale. "It's fine, ma'am. But what are you doing back in Radiant Garden? Has Cloud returned?"

Tifa nodded. "I was close to catching up to him, but..." She shrugged. "All I remember was a flash of light and suddenly I woke up here." Tifa looked up at the sky as if expecting Cloud to come shooting down from the heavens. "Of course if I'm here, that means Cloud's not far off."

"Well, we're looking for our friends too. Do you mind if we accompany you?"

Tifa shook her head. "Not at all. You can tell me what's been going on along the way." As Pluto got up and began following her, another question popped into her head. "By the way, aren't you that one person that sang "Wish Upon a Star?" Tifa asked.

The cricket tugged on his lapels proudly. "Yes, ma'am! The one and only!"

Tifa gave him a funny look. "Yeah, the song was romantic and all, but wishing at a star doesn't work."

Chip and Dale giggled quietly as Jiminy rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."


	24. Roxas Returns!

Kairi could feel the icy cold fingers begin traveling down her arms. "See, when we sampled both Sora and Riku's memories, we found this amazing little tidbit about you." The Princess of Heart squeezed her eyes tightly and bit her lip to prevent any sound from coming out. She wasn't going to give this jerk the satisfaction. She wasn't...she wasn't...

Suddenly the traveling fingers had stopped at its destination, barely touching, just resting right on the surface of the outstretched skin. Kairi willed herself to keep from showing any reaction, tried thinking of anything to not be there. Vexen had bent over and placed his lips near her ear. After what seemed like an eternity, he whispered, "Are...you..." One of the fingers pressed very lightly into Kairi's left armpit. "...ticklish?"

The instant she felt the slight pressure on her skin, Kairi's composure broke down completely and the giggles that she was holding back escaped from her mouth. **"EEEK!"** As soon as that first outburst came out, Vexen immediately used all of his fingers to stroke Kairi's sensitive nerve endings. **"NOOOAAHH! HAAHAAHAA..."**

"Your greatest weakness...your greatest fear!" he yelled over her laughter. "If I had a heart, I'd find this humorous, wouldn't you say?"

Kairi could only reply with **"STAHAHAAPP! PLEEHEEHEE..."** She couldn't help herself. Her body thrashed about as best as it could, but the ice restraints hindered most of her movement. Vexen only laughed at Kairi's dilemma. He seemed to be taking sadistic pleasure in causing her this mental torment.

As far as she could remember, Kairi had feared being tickled. She didn't hate it completely, just only when she was tortured to her limits. When she first came to Destiny Islands, she would sometimes get into tickle fights with the others. Unfortunately, she always ended up being the one tortured. It was as if she were some cute, adorable tickle magnet that attracted people to tickle her.

The others were usually too rough on her. They'd sit on her arms and legs and become merciless. They sometimes popped off her shoes to get at her bare feet. At times like those, she wished that she wore socks. They'd get creative at times, such as dragging a palm leaf across the sole of her foot or using a seagull feather across the surface of her stomach. She'd usually end up in tears. In fact, she was so ticklish that she almost ended up peeing on herself a few times. One time she did, but fortunately it happened near the tide so no one noticed. They assumed she got wet from the ocean like everybody else.

Eventually, they grew out of that tickle phase. That's when they started sparring with weapons. She was glad that she didn't have to worry about being gang tickled anymore. However, she never minded being tickled by Sora for some reason. It was something in his technique that made him seem pretty gentle. He never dug his fingers in. Never caused her any pain. He always managed to use the perfect amount of pressure that caused her to giggle, but not too far that she'd feel uncomfortable. He always seemed a bit reluctant to go any further. Sometimes she secretly wished that he would. If it was Sora, she didn't mind at all. Unfortunately, she was miles away from her fiancée. And for the first time since she found out she was supposed to be married, Kairi felt completely and utterly helpless.

"To think that despite your wanting to be strong and independent, all you are is a weak, giggly, little girl whose will can be broken within seconds!" Vexen's fingers dug into her ribcage with the right amount of pressure, eliciting reluctant giggles. He played her like an instrument as if her ribs were a keyboard. Depending how far along her body his fingers were, her squealing resulted in either high-pitched shrieking or silent laughter.

_"I can't breathe!"_ was a thought that kept popping into her head. However, the theory was bluntly discarded as she automatically took another quick lungful of air just to laugh her head off for another five minutes.

"Did you know there are two different types of tickling?" He eased up on his assault and began to gently caress Kairi's underarms again. This allowed her to breathe again as her full out shrieking reduced to giggles. "This light tickling is called knismesis, while THIS..." Vexen began to dig deep once again, causing her to explode with laughter. "This forceful or heavy tickling is called gargalesis. Although these terms date back to an academic article of 1897, neither of these words can be found in the dictionary. The encyclopedia, maybe. But not the dictionary."

Of course, Kairi heard none of this and she wouldn't have cared if she had. **"HAAHAAHAAHAA..."** Her body kept instinctively pulling her arms inward, but the ice prevented her from moving. She was helpless, vulnerable, and extremely ticklish. No matter how much she hated it, no matter how much she wished it, the poor girl would never be able to wake from this living nightmare.

Bubbly giggles streamed from her lips as the tickling onslaught continued mercilessly. "You seem to be enjoying this a lot!" Vexen taunted. Every chance she got, she begged and pleaded for him to stop, but her words were lost among the titillation along her body.

"I wonder..." Vexen stopped his attack and positioned himself lower down her body. Kairi swallowed in as much air as she could, trying to save what was left of her dignity.

"You...lousy...sonuva..." she panted. She felt completely exhausted as if she had just run a 24-hour marathon non-stop. Kairi barely had enough strength to raise her head.

"I've heard that humans are extremely ticklish on their hipbone." Kairi's eyes widened in horror. "This calls for some more testing, wouldn't you say?"

"Noooo..." Vexen's hands grasped firmly on both sides of her hips. "P-please, don't...t-tickle me...any more..." she sobbed.

Her tormentor chuckled. "Don't what?"

"Tickle me..." Kairi managed to reply before she realized that she had just screwed herself even more. Vexen's thumbs and forefingers gave her a good dig into the hipbone. **"HEEHEEHEEHEE! NAAAHAAAHAAHAAA..."** Kairi's body started bucking for all its worth. She found her second wind, but all it did was give her more energy to scream with laughter. In her entire life, she never knew that she was extremely ticklish there. _"Oh my gawd, I'm going to be tickled to death!" _was the only coherent thought that formed into her head.

"Your fiery reaction is just what I needed for my research!" Vexen stated happily. Kairi couldn't care less any more. Nothing mattered, her entire world only consisted of being locked in tickle hell. Ticklish electricity traveled through his unyielding fingers, lighting up her entire body.

As far as she was concerned, she was nothing more than a piece of ticklish flesh, a tickle toy. Her only purpose in life was to scream with laughter. She could swear that a voice was saying, _"I'll show you fiery!"_ but it couldn't register through the haze within her mind. She was losing her breath again and tears rolled down her cheeks. Her bright red face ached from being forced into a permanent expression of amusement. As soon as the air was depleted from her lungs, her body automatically blocked any sensations she was feeling to replenish her oxygen. Once she had taken in enough air, the titillation returned, forcing more laughter from her mouth.

Kairi didn't know what or where she was anymore. Her vision was swimming before her eyes as she began to lose consciousness and touch with reality. Her will and spirit were completely and thoroughly broken. She wished that she could die so she wouldn't have to endure being so damn ticklish anymore...

So, it came to her surprise when the tickling abruptly stopped. Her arms and legs were finally released allowing her to curl herself into a little ball. The entire rush of sensations that she had been forced to endure had her limbs twitching as tears streamed down her cheeks.

_"Kairi! Are you okay?"_ Naminé's voice rang out. Kairi couldn't find the strength to talk. _"I'm sorry, Kairi. You shouldn't have had to go through that."_ Her chest heaved as she took in gulps of fresh air.

Kairi sobbed. "It...He..."

_"This is exactly what I was afraid of. I mean, this guy is so demented that it makes me want to puke."_ As soon as her body stopped trembling, Kairi wiped off her tear streaks with the back of her hand. That's when she noticed the Keyblade's tip glowing as rings of fire swirled around her keeping Vexen at bay. _"You ready?"_ Naminé asked. _"Because I don't know how much longer I can keep this wall up."_

"Naminé? How exactly are you doing this?" Kairi asked curiously.

_"I'm not sure. I just took control of your arm and voilà! Instant Firaga wall."_ Within the protective warmth that soothed her, Kairi almost felt like taking a nap right there on the grass. But she knew better. _"Hey, it could've been worse,"_ Naminé said.

"You're kidding, right? What could possibly be worse than being tickle tortured in every vulnerable spot available?"

_"He could've tickled your feet."_ Kairi shivered at the thought. _"Frosty Sundays are his term for hiding my sandals, locking my ankles in ice stocks and tickling my feet, knees and legs non-stop for hours. And that was only when he was bored,"_ Naminé added with a moan. _"What you just went through is what he calls a Chilly Friday."_

"What kind of psycho is he?" Kairi groaned as she sat herself up. The torture that she just went through was still fresh in her nerve endings. "I see why you were so dramatically traumatized. Anyone would be unless they actually liked it. But you're with me on this one, right?"

_"I'm sorry, Kairi,"_ Naminé apologized. _"I won't abandon you like that again. Together?"_

Kairi nodded. "Together."

* * *

"You guys made a lot of progress since the last time we've been here," Sora commented.

Leon smirked. "It hasn't been easy, but thanks to everyone's help, Radiant Garden's almost close to being rebuilt."

Sora and his friends were at Merlin's house, A.K.A. Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Headquarters. Because most of the party didn't have weapons that were effective against the Heartless and Nobodies, Leon had brought them here to lend some that he'd been storing. Coincidentally, because of the wedding, all the wedding guests' luggage and belongings were being stored here as well.

"What exactly is this?" Leon had just given Hayner a sword that looked very similar to his weapon.

"It's called a Gunblade. I usually keep a spare for emergencies." Leon crossed his arms. "And right now, I'd say this qualifies as an emergency."

Pence and Olette stared at it in awe as Hayner ran his fingers over the shiny metal. "Sweet."

Selphie dug around in her luggage until she found what she was looking for. With a huge grin on her face, she presented Olette with a spare pair of nunchucks. "It takes some getting used to, but they're pretty reliable when it comes to long distance fighting."

"It looks like a jump rope," Olette commented.

Selphie giggled. "You know, I never thought of it that way! They do kinda look like a jump rope."

Leon handed Ariel a round, spherical object. "This is for you."

Confused, Ariel turned it around in her hands. "What is it?"

"A Blitzball."

"Wait a minute." Riku gave Leon a funny look. "What are you doing with a Blitzball here in Radiant Garden?"

Leon shrugged. "Your friend Wakka brought a couple of them a few days back when the guests were just starting to show up," he explained.

While Riku and Leon searched for weapons for the Prince and Pence, Sora had been leaning against a wall in deep conversation with Roxas. "Wait, run that by me again?"

_"I want to walk around for awhile,"_ Roxas repeated. _"You know, interact with things, have some conversations for myself."_

Sora dropped his head and crossed his arms in thought. "Well, unless you've got a dark Keyblade somewhere, the only ones who'll be able to see you are me and Riku."

_"About that..."_ Roxas chuckled. _"Actually, I can make myself seen to others as well."_

Sora's head snapped up. "Wait, you can do that? Since when?"

_"I figured it out just recently. I've done it while you were sleeping." _

"What? So you're the one who ate my last Sea-Salt ice cream bar?" Sora shook his head. "Never mind. If you can do it, what are you waiting f..." He was about to agree whole-heartedly, but something was nagging him. "What's the catch?"

_"Well, since I'm still connected to you, I'll be taking over your body."_ That statement worried Sora. _"All that'll happen is that we switch places."_

"In other words, I become the disembodied voice and you'll be the one in control?" Sora paraphrased in an attempt to understand.

_"It's not going to hurt or anything,"_ Roxas assured him. _"It's just like Driving."_

Sora shrugged. There was no reason why he couldn't give Roxas a chance to be his own person once in awhile. "Alright. Let's do it." He closed his eyes. **"GIVE ME STRENGTH!"**

Everyone looked up in surprise as Sora's body was encased in a crystal sphere before shattering itself into nothingness. The light faded as the Nobody known as Roxas stepped out into the world for the first time in ages. Roxas smiled nervously. "Hi, guys."

After a few awkward moments of silence, Hayner was the one to break it. "Hey, Riku? Who's this kid?" Roxas smile faltered.

Riku gave Roxas an understanding look. "Everyone," he waved in Roxas' direction, "this is Roxas."

"Roxas?" Olette let out a gasp. "You mean the one from the other Twilight Town?"

Roxas subconsciously scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that's me."

Pence grinned. "From what Sora said, you used to hang out with us."

"It's strange," Olette said with her eyes closed in thought. "I feel like we do know each other, but I'm sure we've never met before."

Hayner slugged Roxas on the arm. "I heard you're a good Struggle player. Winning the championships..."

Roxas' eyebrows shot up. "Exactly how much did you tell them, Sora?"

_"Just the basic details. How you spent six days trapped in a data simulation convinced that these guys were the real thing."_

"It was technically only five." Roxas shook his head. "But how exactly do you know any of this anyways? I don't remember telling you."

_"Riku told me."_

Roxas glared at Riku. "Ah. Figures."

"Sorry for everything that you went through," Hayner said before he stopped himself. "Wait. What am I sorry for?" Everyone chuckled at that remark.

Olette patted Roxas on the shoulder. "Even if your memories of us are fake, we'll be glad to finally get to know you now."

Roxas smiled at his old/new friends. "Thanks guys."

"So, tell us," Pence began, "Were the "us" in the other Twilight Town anything like us here?"

Roxas thought for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something cynical, but realized that Hayner was tapping his Gunblade against his palm. Choosing his words carefully, he replied, "Um...they were...pretty much the same." Hayner didn't look convinced by Roxas' stammering, but he stayed quiet. Riku was still searching for weapons, but there was a huge smirk on his face.

"After we find you two weapons," Riku was indicating Pence and the Prince, "we head for the mineshaft. Who knows what dangers Kairi and Naminé are going through right now..."

* * *

"How many more times can we use Firaga?" Kairi asked.

After a few seconds to check, Naminé replied, _"I think we've got enough for a few more shots. After that, you'll have to wait for our magic to recharge."_

Kairi nodded. "I just hope we don't need them to defend ourselves."

Vexen's expression was of pure loathing. "You must learn to respect your elders!" he snarled. "If you had stayed where you are, at least you would've died with a smile on your face. Instead, you'll be forced to suffer a slow, painful and icy death!"

"Tough talk from someone who gets off on tickling girls!" Kairi snapped.

Vexen let out a quiet chuckle. "When you're as old as I am, you'll do anything for physical contact."

Kairi didn't even bother to hide her disgust. "Uh...ew?" The Chilly Academic raised his hand. Ice crystals began to build up on one another. Before Kairi knew it, they had formed razor sharp snowflakes that buzzed straight toward her like flying sawblades.

"What is with all these homing projectiles?" Kairi complained as she smashed the incoming buzzsaws with the Keyblade. "First Marluxia, then Luxord, Zexion and Lexaeus. And now him!"

_"Maybe it's our feminine charisma,"_ Naminé replied sarcastically.

As soon as the snowflakes were destroyed, Vexen jumped back a couple of feet to summon ice spikes that began to jut out of the ground. Kairi Dodge Flipped for all she was worth as they trailed her movements. Due to the immense stamina drain from the torture she had endured, her body was cramping up and not moving as effectively as it should have.

"Do you truly believe that Sora adores you because of your personality? That he loves you for your heart?" The creepy old man smirked. "Or could it be that even the Keyblade master isn't as pure of heart as you think he is?"

"Shut up!" Kairi grabbed onto a forming spike and used its rising momentum to soar through the air, slamming the Keyblade into Vexen's shield. The shield cracked slightly but didn't give way to her strike. As she poured as much strength as she could spare to keep the pressure on, Vexen laughed.

"Besides, the men outside this system are no better than me. They may flatter you with their words and promises, but it's only to control you! Sora doesn't respect you for who you are! And those lies that he only cares about your heart and not your body?" Vexen tapped his head as if he knew a dark, terrible secret. "For as long as I can remember, females care about what their face, hair and shoes look like. But men?" His eyes raked across her body. "They only care about everything in-between! It's pitiful!"

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "Oh, is that how you want to play it?" she snapped. "You're trying to get inside my head and make me start doubting Sora?" Vexen shoved her back enough to slice at her with his shield. She quickly backflipped to avoid the attack and got back into her ready stance. "First of all, I've known Sora since childhood. He may be clumsy, slow, stupid, stubborn, hopeless, idiotic, brainless, thick-headed, rebellious, single-minded, careless, reckless..."

_"I think that's enough, Kairi,"_ Naminé interrupted.

"Anyway, he may not be perfect, but he's got one of the strongest hearts that I know of. Second, I know looks aren't everything to a guy! Sora's seen me with bed-head dozens of times!" Kairi smirked as Vexen's expression became angry. "Granted, I know how much he wants to see me in a bikini, but his heart's still pure! He wouldn't care if I was wearing nothing at all!" Kairi stopped herself in the realization of what she had just said. "I mean, he wouldn't care if I wasn't wearing anything at all!" She blinked. "What is wrong with me?" she murmured to herself. "He's not shallow! Let's leave it at that!"

_"Nice recovery, Kairi,"_ Naminé muttered.

Vexen piled icicle on top of icicle until it formed an enormous blade of ice that looked like it could split the ground in half. Kairi gaped in astonishment. "Oh my...That's one huge-looking sword."

"Did you know I was actually trying to help Sora?" the elder crowed as he charged at Kairi with his new sword.

_"Watch out!"_ Naminé cried. The Princess of Heart didn't have to be told twice. Vexen swung wildly like a madman possessed. Despite the size of the sword, he didn't seem to have the skill to wield it properly.

"It's true! I was the one who was going to tell him about his Nobody's existence. And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling Axel!" The sword howled through the air as Kairi jumped and bent backward to avoid it.

"Please! You only wanted to tell Sora because of your so-called loyalty to the Organization!" Kairi attempted to get into Keyblade range, but the sword's length prevented her from doing so.

"I was always loyal to the Organization!" Vexen snapped. "If it weren't for traitors like Marluxia and Larxene, I'd have probably ended up as the Superior's number two!"

_"Ew! He wanted to end up in Xemnas' toilet?"_ Naminé laughed. _"That's a nice way to spend your existence."_ In one last ditch effort, Vexen raised the sword over his head and brought it straight down on her. Kairi quickly Dodge Flipped out of the way, but as the giant sword shattered on contact with the ground, a frozen shockwave rippled outward, causing Kairi's entire body to go numb.

"F-fighting this g-guy makes me almost w-wish Axel were h-here," Kairi stammered through chattering teeth.

_"Kairi, you wanna tag out?"_ There was a steel sharp tone in Naminé's voice. _"I owe him some full-body contact and I'm not talking about a hug."_ Kairi nodded wearily and let Naminé take over. As soon as Naminé's form appeared, Vexen let out his annoying laugh.

"So, Naminé. You're finally showing yourself."

"I'm not afraid of you anymore, Even," Naminé snapped.

Vexen's eyes narrowed. "How dare you use my true name, you insolent little witch!"

Naminé held the Keyblade out in front of her. "You gonna cry?" she taunted.

The old man stared at her for a few moments. Then he burst out laughing once again. "Oh ho! So, not afraid, are you?" Vexen's wicked smile turned upside-down into a menacing sneer. "You should be."

Without warning, Vexen charged at Naminé and swung his shield with such ferocity that it would've beheaded her. Naminé ducked underneath his outstretched arm and delivered a sharp kick to his calves, sweeping his legs from out underneath him. She attempted to stab with the Keyblade while he was down, but he quickly rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet.

"Well, you've blossomed into a fine young specimen," Vexen said, giving Naminé the evil eye. She did everything she could not to cringe.

"Give it a rest, Goldilocks. I'm through playing your games!" She ran at Vexen, killing intent in her eyes.

Before she even took two strides, blocks of ice materialized around Vexen and began orbiting him. "Feeling angry are we?" He tapped his fingers together. "Excellent. Everything's going according to plan..."

Naminé waved the Keyblade threateningly. "Either you take that back or I'll use your butt as the next "Pedestal of Time!" You got that?!"

_"Um, Naminé?"_ Kairi was a bit taken back by Naminé's fiery reaction. _"Maybe you should calm down."_

Naminé took a slow, cleansing breath. "Sorry, I've been wanting to use that quote for awhile."

Vexen glided effortlessly across the field, aiming his projectiles at the fleeing Naminé. Even the act of brushing against the ice with her bare skin caused her nerves to go numb. She was barely able to keep moving as she felt the cold begin to overtake her body. Naminé managed to limbo underneath a stray ice block that whizzed past her at breakneck speed.

"Whoa! That was a close one!" Naminé quickly massaged her aching back. "Didn't know I was that flexible."

_"Naminé! It's coming back toward you!"_ Naminé's head whipped around in time to see the block rocketing back. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she stabbed at the incoming block, sinking the Keyblade in to its hilt. Then with a massive strain of effort, she began to twirl the block around like a hammer thrower. Any other blocks that tried to run into her resulted in being deflected. As soon as she had enough momentum (and got dizzy), she released her grip on the Keyblade and sent her projectile flying. Vexen put up his shield, but the makeshift hammer still slammed him into the mansion's gates. While he was stunned, Naminé slid over to her discarded Keyblade across the slippery ice shards and stabbed at Vexen again. Unfortunately, the shield had a mind of its own and automatically protected its owner against her attack.

As Vexen shook the cobwebs out of his head, he raised his hand to summon another blue orb of light. The sickening smirk was plastered over his face again. Naminé's eyes widened apprehensively. "I don't like the looks of..."

The orb exploded forming a giant mountain of ice that blanketed the entire battlefield. Naminé instinctively used her last few Firagas to protect her from being frozen to death. The glacier splintered into millions of shards, revealing Vexen who seemed to be losing his patience.

"Still there, are you?" he muttered. Vexen swooped in and raised his shield for another guillotine. The glint in his eyes froze Naminé in her tracks. "Why don't you be a good little girl and surrender already?"

Only one thought crossed the memory witch's mind: _"Well, it worked before."_ Like a soccer player blasting the ball into the goal, Naminé's leg shot out to come in contact with his "ice bags," resulting in a sickening crunch.

Unfortunately, instead of doubling over in pain, Vexen just laughed. "You think such a cheap trick will defeat me?"

Naminé quickly jerked her foot away. "Ew! It felt like...bags of shaved ice!" She began shaking her foot wildly, disgusted for having even make contact with it. Naminé immediately switched back with Kairi, who wasn't totally recovered, but still managed to stand on her two feet.

"How do we beat this guy?" Kairi cried, panicking.

_"I don't know what else to do!"_ Naminé replied helplessly. _"The only thing I can think of..."_ Her voice trailed off. _"I can't believe I'm thinking this. It's a long shot, but it might work."_

"What? You know how to beat him?"

_"To defeat a pervert, we have to think like one,"_ Naminé stated.

"What exactly..." Her question was cut short as Naminé whispered the idea. Kairi's eyes widened in horror. "No way! You can't be serious!"

_"A shield is used for blocking attacks, right? And his weapon (as lame as it may be) is a shield made of ice. He controls and forms ice. Even if we destroy that shield, he's just going to keep reforming it."_

"But to do what you're suggesting..." Kairi desperately tried to think of an alternative. "Couldn't we just wait for our magic to recharge and then spam Firaga?"

_"Look. Do you want this battle over or not?"_

"I..." Kairi's mind was drawing a blank. "It just seems so cheap, though." She inhaled a slow, calming breath. "Hey, Vexen!"

Kairi braced herself as she gripped the top of her undershirt. **"TAKE THIS!"** She turned her head, squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her hold downward. Vexen's jaw dropped and his eyes grew rounder. "Can't believe I'm doing this..." she muttered. Kairi counted to five, giving the old perv a good eyeful before pulling her top back up.

_"Did it work?"_ Naminé asked. The question became painfully unnecessary as Vexen's nose began to spurt out blood. There was a stunned, yet goofy expression on his face. After a couple of minutes of inactivity, he collapsed to the ground due to blood loss. His eyes were glazed over and his body twitched sporadically.

"Naminé. We are NEVER doing that again." For the fourth time that fight, Kairi's face was flushed with embarrassment. "That was dirty, cheap and wrong on so many levels."

_"Cheaper than the crotch shot?"_ Naminé asked cynically.

Kairi shook her head. "I don't care what it takes, but the guys don't hear about this. EVER."

_"Agreed. But do you mind if I finish him off?"_

Kairi nodded wearily. "Be my guest." Naminé's form reappeared, but Vexen was still too out of it to notice. She stood over his body, turned the Keyblade upside down, and with a downward thrust, her weapon stabbed straight through where the sun didn't shine.

"Poetic justice," Naminé muttered.

Vexen looked up at the memory witch's dark expression. "No matter. Our plan is still undeterred. Even if you defeat all of us, the Organization will still live on."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naminé pointed the Keyblade at his dissolving form. "Tell me!" The moment the outburst left her lips, her heart throbbed with agonizing pain. She collapsed to her knees clutching her chest and gritting her teeth.

Vexen began to chuckle once more. "It's too late. You have our thanks, girls." And with his chilly laugh echoing through the air, Kairi and Naminé could only watch helplessly as Vexen disappeared back into the data stream. As soon as his form dissolved, the pain rapidly evaporated.

Naminé gripped her head in confusion. "What's happening to me? To us? I just felt all this anger boil up inside and..."

_"Usually, I'd say it was because you were traumatized, but..."_ Kairi's tone was anything but satisfied. _"Something tells me things are about to get a worse before it gets better. A whole lot worse..."_


	25. Captain Sparrow's Real Plan

"You feel better, Naminé?" Kairi asked. "Thy tormentor of thy memories hath finally been vanquished by fair maiden's own hand."

Naminé giggled. _"Nice Shakespearean accent. But, I should be asking you that. Going through that type of torture can scar you for life."_

Kairi shook her head. "If I get any nightmares, they'll pass. All I have to do is think about Sora."

_"You'd rather have Sora doing that to you?"_ Kairi was about to deny it, but stopped. Her face reddened a little as if the idea weren't completely unappealing. _"Your silence is really assuring, Kairi._"

"Speaking of Sora..." Kairi began.

_**FLASH!** A flash of memory ran through her mind: Sora with his Keyblade pointed forward. Ice crystals formed at its tip before spreading itself outward as he yelled, **"FREEZE!"**_

_"And Blizzaga has been miraculously added to our list of spells," _Naminé said with a satisfied tone.

A nagging suspicion was creeping at the back of Kairi's mind. "Kinda convenient, don't you think? Whenever we defeat a certain member, we end up with a spell that relates to them."

_"You're complaining?"_

Kairi pursed her lips in thought. "No. I mean, we'd be dead right now if it weren't for them. But, how do we know this isn't part of their plan?"

_"Why would they be helping us become more powerful?"_ Naminé asked. _"It doesn't make sense."_

Kairi nodded slowly. "Yeah, maybe I'm thinking too much."

_"Don't worry. It's almost over,"_ Naminé assured her._ "Just three left, then we can get the heck out of here."_

The girls began heading for the next cove. "Say, Naminé?"

_"Hmm?"_

"What do you think'll happen after we finish them all off?" Kairi rubbed her arm self-consciously. "Do you really think that we can leave so easily?"

Naminé was silent for a moment. _"As far as things are concerned, it's best we concentrate on surviving this first. Something tells me these guys aren't going to just stand there and let us run over them."_

An uncomfortable pressure began to build in the pit of Kairi's stomach. "I've just realized something."

_"What? That something or someone is attacking our heart from the inside?"_

Kairi shook her head. "No. It's just that..." Her stomach grumbled annoyingly. "It's been how many hours and I've just realized that there's no bathroom around here." She frowned at the cascades of water surrounding her. "And the waterfalls aren't exactly helping to take my mind off the pressure."

_"We could always just go in the waterfall. It's not like anyone else is here."_

Kairi took a deep breath. "No, I'm fine." She massaged her stomach. "It'll pass."

Naminé giggled. _"Sure it will...at the most inappropriate moment."_ A vision of Kairi defeating her opponent by passing gas came to mind. _"Not really princess-like, is it?"_

"Hey, I'm still human, alright? No one's perfect."

They finally stopped in front of their next target. _"Narrowing down our possible list of suspects,"_ Naminé pondered, _"we're either against Xaldin, Xigbar or Xemnas."_

"Well, judging by the fact we know Xemnas' and Xigbar's weapons," Kairi peered closer at the shadowy object that hovered in front of her, "I'm guessing that this overgrown toothpick would be Xaldin's." She reached out to touch it, cuing the bright light to transport her once again. This time, the girls found themselves standing in the middle of a stone bridge. "Where are we now?" she asked.

_"For once, I'm as clueless as you are."_

Kairi walked up to one of the statues that lined the bridge and gave it a light tap with the toe of her boot. "This place seems pretty dark and dreary." She took a quick glance around and noticed the twilit sky above her. "Nighttime already?"

_"I think it's just part of the simulation. Wherever we are must be naturally dark."_

"Well, at least there's enough light for me to see in front of me," Kairi said as she held her hands up in front of her. "It'd be pretty frustrating if we had to..." Her voice trailed off as data streams appeared out of nowhere; once again twisting and shaping until finally the form of a tall man with dreadlocks stood before Kairi.

"So, Princess," Xaldin greeted. "You came after all."

"Dude, what's with the hair?" The sides of Kairi's lips twitched as she struggled not to laugh. "Do you and Saix go to the same salon or something?"

_"Now, Kairi,"_ Naminé said in a motherly tone. _"Don't go and stereotype him as some ghetto wannabe."_

"Are you enjoying our little gauntlet so far?" Xaldin asked. "It's not so easy fighting countless battles without rest, is it?" Kairi's face became serious. "Perhaps you should've stayed home instead of trying to play hero."

"I can take care of myself, thank you," Kairi retorted sharply. "Look, why are you guys even doing this? The Organization's already been destroyed!" She swiped her Keyblade in frustration. "What's the whole point of kidnapping me and forcing me to go through this stupid simulation of yours?"

"Are you angry?" Xaldin had an evil grin plastered on his face. "Then feed your anger. Only anger will keep you strong."

But Kairi wasn't falling for it. "Are you guys trying to tick me off? I mean, do you WANT me to shove this Keyblade up your...?"

_"That's enough, girl,"_ Naminé interrupted. _"You don't want to give him the satisfaction."_

"Whatever it is you people are planning, I'll tell you right now..." Kairi went into her ready stance. "...my friends and I will stop you!"

"Really? You mean the friends that abandoned you when you needed them most?"

"Shut up," Kairi growled. "The only reason that they're not here right now is because I asked them not to come for me."

"What exactly are you trying to prove? That you can fight?" Xaldin raised an eyebrow. "Or could it be the reason that you're fighting right now is because you're afraid?"

Kairi let out a cynic giggle. "Afraid of what? A team of terrorists whose sole purpose in life is to get beat up by a bunch of meddling kids?"

"Don't deny your heart. You fight for strength. And you're afraid that once you have enough power, people will fear you." Kairi lowered her Keyblade a few inches. "That's right, I know what you're thinking. _'Once I've obtained enough power to show that I'm just as good as Sora or Riku, will my friends still feel the same way about me?_' If you defeat the Organization, all you're proving is how much more dangerous you are than we are."

Kairi stood in silence for a few moments as if she were pondering his words. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Wait a minute! I remember you now! You're that guy that was owned by Belle!"

Xaldin was taken completely off guard by the suddenly random comment. "It was a cheap shot!" he snapped. "If my arms weren't occupied, I would've..."

"Kept gloating?" Kairi finished. "Hey, if Belle had no problem..." She returned her Keyblade back into position. "For all I know, you could be all talk and no fight like Demyx."

Xaldin blinked. "Who?" He twirled a lock of his hair around his finger. "Oh, you mean the one that was beaten up by a couple of chipmunks?" His head drooped in embarrassment. "He brought shame to the Organization."

Kairi snorted. "Why did you let that dork join anyways?"

The Whirlwind Lancer's head snapped up. "We don't need to explain ourselves to you." Miniature wind funnels burst out of thin air, surrounding him as his weapons were summoned. "Another Princess of Heart." He grabbed a lance in each hand while the rest hovered around him. "Where's the fun in this?"

* * *

After many hours of being chased around the reception hall, Stitch had finally eaten enough to take a quick nap. The room looked like a giant weed whacker had been unleashed. Chicken Little and Mushu were sitting against a pillar catching their breath from their recent game of "Catch the Experiment."

"How much sugar does that little panda eat, anyways?" Mushu complained. "I've been a guardian dragon for a long time, but I've never seen something with so much energy before!"

Chicken Little waved his hand dismissively. "It could be worse," he huffed. He pointed toward the kitchens. "He could've raided the fridges as well."

The dragon nodded in agreement. "So true, so true."

At that moment, the doors banged open, snapping all of the summons out of their stupor. Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew had somehow made their way back to the reception hall.

"Wait a..." Aladdin looks around in confusion. "What are we doing here, Sparrow?"

Instead of answering, the Captain stared at his compass intently. After muttering to himself for a few seconds, he took three great strides toward the ice chest. Then with a flourish, he tossed the lid open, stuck his arm in and whipped out a glass bottle. "Ah, here it is!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"What's that?" Mulan asked.

"Rum!" Jack replied happily. He popped off the cork with his teeth and raised the bottle to his lips.

"JACK!" the group yelled in unison.

Captain Jack lowered the bottle and gave them an innocent look. "What?"

Mulan crossed her arms. "You were supposed to be leading us to the mineshaft!"

"Yeah," Simba added, "That's what the compass was pointing toward, right?"

The Captain shook his head. "No, what I said was that the compass points toward whatever the holder desires." He lifted his bottle again. "And right now, I'm thirsty."

"Mr. Sparrow," Jack Skellington sighed, "we thought you were honestly going to help us."

Captain Jack chuckled. "Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly stupid." Before anyone could ask what he was talking about, Jack took a swig of drink, but immediately splurted it back out. "What is this?" He peered closely at the label. "Butter rum? Who in...why...wha..." he stammered.

"You didn't know?" Chicken Little asked. "We've got a lot of minors here, so there's no alcohol."

Captain Jack swirled his bottle around and reluctantly took another gulp. "Well, I guess it's better than nothing."

While everyone was grumbling about how Jack Sparrow wasted their time, Mulan ran up to her guardian dragon. "Mushu!"

"Hey! There's my Hunny-bun kicking princess!" Mushu leapt up onto her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. "So what's up?"

"We might need your help." Mushu's ears perked up at that. But before he could say anything else...

"Oh!" Queen Minnie and Lady Daisy ran in to see what all the commotion was about. "Is everyone all right?"

"We were just about to meet the others, your Majesty," Aladdin reassured her. With the help of Mulan and Jack Skellington, he recounted the current situation and plan of action they were about to partake. That's when Genie came rushing up excitedly.

"Do you need me, Al?" Genie flexed his muscles. "Just say the word and I'll be there to show those bad guys what phenomenal cosmic powers can do!"

Aladdin gave him a wry smile. "Thanks, Genie. But, we need you to keep guard of the others for the time being." Genie's cheery expression drooped. "However..." The blue prankster's head snapped back up. "When we finally do need you, I'll just use the Lamp Charm." Aladdin pulled out the glittering piece of metal that Sora once possessed.

"Alright, Al. But do it soon!" He let out a huge sigh. "It gets boring after awhile sitting around. Kinda feels like being trapped in that lamp again."

"Actually..." The Pumpkin King scratched his skull with a bony finger. "There is one thing you could do for us."

"Name it!"

"Could you conjure up a map to the mineshaft?" Jack Skellington jerked his thumb at Jack Sparrow who was sucking his bottle dry. "I don't think we can trust Mr. Sparrow's compass anymore."

The Captain popped the butter rum out of his mouth. "That's CAPTAIN!" he roared. "And where's your spirit of adventure?"

Mulan rolled her eyes. "It ran away with your sense of direction."


	26. Kairi vs the Whirlwind Lancer

_"So what's the plan?"_ Naminé asked.

Kairi shrugged with indifference. "Charge right in and swing like crazy?"

_"Yeah, and get sliced and diced like onions on a chopping board,"_ Naminé laughed cynically.

Kairi kept her gaze steady on Xaldin. "You got a better plan?"

_"Xaldin's element is wind, right?"_ Naminé mused. _"So, I'm assuming this guy can either fly or hover."_

Before they could make a move, Xaldin cried out, "Wind, guard me!" His lances surrounded him, rushing around faster and faster until they formed a protective Aeroga barrier.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Figures. This guy's a floater." She gripped the Keyblade tightly with both hands and charged.

Xaldin raised one his lances and began spinning it vertically. _"Wind!"_ A swirling ball of wind formed itself in front of him which soared through the air toward his oncoming opponent.

Kairi raised her Keyblade above her head. _"It's just air, right?"_ she thought. _"How dangerous can it be?"_ She swung with all of her might. Unfortunately, she misjudged her range and as a result, the projectile slammed itself upside her head.

As Kairi tried to regain her bearings, Naminé groaned. _"Quit acting recklessly like Sora and get your head back in the game!"_ she scolded. _"If something as harmless as water can hurt you, don't you think...Look out!"_

Xaldin rushed in swinging his lances gracefully like a master. His weapons barely nicked Kairi as she bent backward, jumped over and deflected his swings. She flinched as one of the lances tore a slight gash across her exposed arm. Finally, he finished his combo with his lances spearing close to the ground, jutting outward like needles on a porcupine. The pink princess almost stumbled over from the attack.

She leapt away a safe distance from Xaldin, clutching her arm in pain. "Those things aren't exactly kid-friendly, are they?" she muttered through gritted teeth.

_"What? You expected them to tickle?"_

Kairi shuddered. "Please don't bring that up again. I'm having a hard time forgetting as it is." Without knowing why, she glanced at her wrist. "Wow. It's only been three minutes into the fight and we're already on the losing end. How pathetic is that?"

_"What's more sad is that we don't even wear a watch,"_ Naminé added. Xaldin hovered on the spot, renewing his Aeroga barrier. _"You think the Keyblade can pierce that thing?"_

Kairi bit her lip. "Only one way to find out!" She charged again, her Keyblade ready to strike. Xaldin wasted no time and reciprocated her blitz. "Have to time this just right..." It was like playing chicken with a bullet train. Three seconds to impact...two...

Before Xaldin knew what was happening, Kairi surprised her opponent by running right past him, only to leap at the bridge's handrail. Using her momentum, she kicked off the bridge's wall to give her enough altitude to thrust the Keyblade straight at Xaldin. Unfortunately, the instant the Keyblade made contact with the wind sphere, Kairi's weapon shot out of her hand and clattered a few feet away.

"Oh no." Kairi scrambled out of Xaldin's range. The lances barely grazed her as she Dodge-Flipped to retrieve her weapon. "How am I supposed to get through that?"

"What's wrong, Princess?" Xaldin scoffed. "Giving up already?"

Kairi and Naminé had the same thought in mind. "Like Hades, we are!"

_"Any suggestions?"_ Kairi asked Naminé privately.

Naminé groaned in frustration._ "It's a wind barrier that's been created by his lances surrounding him real fast. I don't see..."_ Her thought trailed off.

"What? What is it?"

_"Kairi, use Blizzaga on his Aeroga shield!"_ Naminé cried.

Kairi shrugged. "Don't know what you have planned, but if you say so." She aimed her Keyblade at Xaldin. _**"FREEZE!"**_ A mass of ice crystals shot out of the blade's tip. Xaldin only looked at the oncoming spell curiously.

"Is that the best you've got?" he taunted. The ice spell made contact with his wind barrier. "Your spells are..." Instantly, frost began to spread over the sphere. "What?!" The swirling wind that was protecting Xaldin suddenly became his imprisonment as the air crystallized into ice.

_"Now, Kairi!"_ The pink princess tightened her grip on the Keyblade and blitzed forward. She raised her weapon back like a batter and swung with all her might. The Keyblade flashed as it smashed throught the crystal sphere, connecting with Xaldin's midsection and sending him flying back. _"That's my girl!"_ Naminé cheered.

Xaldin clutched his abdomen, giving Kairi a chilly glare. "Take this..." Before she knew what happened, Xaldin leapt high into the air, disappearing from Kairi's sight.

Her head turned back and forth, confused and unsure. "Where'd he go?"

_"Kairi! Above you!"_ Naminé warned. The Princess of Heart Dodge Flipped just in time as Xaldin's giant lances rained from the sky, crashing into the ground like lightning before retracting back into the air.

"What was..." was all that Kairi managed to say before having to perform another Dodge Flip away from Xaldin's lances. "What? I finally land a hit on you and all you can do now is hide in the sky?" Kairi yelled. "Come back down here and face me!"

Instead of retracting, the lances began to surround her position before fading back into thin air. Kairi sensed what was coming before she even heard it. She quickly back-flipped out of the way as Xaldin's giant lances struck the spot where she had just occupied.

Kairi only stared at Xaldin as he returned to the battlefield, his lances shrinking back to normal size. "Enough! If you wanted to die quicker..." The Whirlwind Lancer bared his teeth. "...all you had to do was ask."

* * *

"I wish Cloud would regain consciousness already!" Yuffie complained. "My back's starting to kill me!"

"Didn't your father ever tell you to lift with your legs?" Cid retorted.

"Don't you dare bring my father into this!" Yuffie snapped. After finding Cloud at the Great Maw, Aerith, Yuffie, Tron and Cid were slowly trekking their way to the mineshaft to meet up with the others. Since Cloud was still knocked out, they had no choice but to carry his dead weight along with them. Cid and Yuffie were the lucky "volunteers," grunting underneath each arm. "Why isn't Tron helping again? He's a lot taller than me!"

"He's the one guiding us!" Cid groaned. "Now, quit yapping and lift!"

"How much further, Tron?" Aerith asked calmly.

Tron closed his eyes for a moment. After a few seconds, he opened them again and pointed a few inches forward and to the right. "Our destination's that way. At the current pace we're going, we should arrive there in forty minutes."

"Forty minutes?!" Yuffie got out from underneath Cloud, almost causing Cid to lose his grip. "Forget this! I need a break!" She plopped down on the spot. Cid, seeing no point in trying to persuade her otherwise, carefully laid Cloud onto the ground.

"Damn girl! You could've at least warned me!" He began to reach into his pocket for a lighter, intending to light up a cigarette. "What the...?" Cid frantically patted his pockets down. "Have you seen my..."

Aerith sighed. "Yuffie. Give Cid back his lighter."

Yuffie mumbled as she reluctantly handed it back to Cid. "He should stop smoking, though! He already inhales enough smoke from the airship's engines as it is!"

"You already know it calms my nerves!" Cid began to click his lighter.

"I don't understand..." Tron commented in confusion, but his voice was overshadowed by the other two.

"But you promised Shera you were going to quit!" Yuffie insisted.

Cid stopped clicking. "What she doesn't know, can't..."

"Quiet." Aerith didn't shout, but she said it in her most dangerous tone. Despite Cid and Yuffie's voices being louder than hers, they immediately fell silent. "Do you hear that?" The group strained their ears.

"Hear what? All I hear is..." Yuffie blinked. "...nothing."

"Exactly. It's too quiet." Aerith's face was a picture of worry. "We should be hearing sounds of fighting right now."

"And it's been a bit too easy lately," Cid added. "We should've encountered at least a darn Heartless or Nobody by now."

Suddenly, rapid footsteps broke the silence. The fighters quietly drew their weapons. "Think it's a Heartless?" Yuffie mused.

Tron shook his head. "Not likely. I'm hearing a certain pattern in their footsteps." His eyes narrowed. "It sounds like two figures. One biped and a quadraped."

"And what's that mean in User terms?" Yuffie sighed.

"A human and a canine," Tron clarified.

After a few tense moments, a familiar figure in black dashed out from behind a corner. "It's Tifa!" Yuffie cried. Indeed, Tifa Lockhart had finally rejoined the party. Pattering behind her was Pluto along with Chip, Dale and Jiminy. "Tifa, it's really you!" The Materia hunter leapt forward and gave her a tight squeeze. Tifa returned the embrace.

"Is Cloud okay?" she asked.

"We're fine too," Cid muttered. "Thanks Tifa."

Aerith shushed him with her gentle gaze. "I healed him as best as I could, but he's exhausted."

Tifa knelt by Cloud's side and gently lifted up his head. Pain and worry were etched on her face. "Cloud..."

"All he said was that someone was coming," Aerith continued. "You have any idea what he's talking about?"

Tifa shook her head. "No idea. I almost caught up to him, but after that is a complete blank." She glanced around at the eerily barren landscape. "What's been going on since I've been gone?"

Confirming what Jiminy told her, the group filled Tifa in on the details of what happened and where they were heading.

"So what are we standing around for?" Tifa smacked a gloved hand into her palm. "Let's get to that mineshaft already!"

"But Cloud's too heavy, though!" Yuffie whined.

Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She positioned her hands underneath Cloud and to everyone's astonishment, she tossed him over her shoulder like an empty rucksack. "He seems pretty light to me."

"Tifa?" Cid shook his head in disbelief. "How in blazes are you able to carry him so easily?!"

"Pfft. Please." Tifa winked at him. "We grew up together. How could I not?"

* * *

"Come on!" The sky darkened as Xaldin began his deadly dance. Kairi had no choice, but to run out of his range as fast as possible.

"How in the world is he able to expand those lances?" Kairi huffed.

_"They're made of the old bag's wind,"_ Naminé replied. _"What'd you expect?"_

"Take this!" The lances twirled around him, whirling dangerously like helicopter rotors. He rotated around like a gyroscope, flipping upside down and swinging around his weapons with graceful ease. Kairi kept backing up, her eyes locked onto the mesmerizing choppers. After a few seconds, she felt her body press itself against the wall immediately behind her. She had unknowingly and literally backed herself into a corner.

Xaldin's spears homed in on her position. She could almost make out the _"Made in Japan_" labels etched on them. The Lancer grinned evilly. "Here!" he cried as he thrust his weapons in Kairi's direction. The Princess of Heart instinctively tightened her leg muscles like coiled springs and pushed off from the ground, Aerial Dodging over Xaldin's head. As she landed safely out of reach, Xaldin suddenly stopped his onslaught and leapt high into the air again.

_"Kairi!"_ The lances began to glow and expand with power. They connected themselves end to end to form what looked like a giant snake. The dragon-like creature slithered through the air and off the side of the bridge. An inexperienced person would've let out a sigh of relief, but Kairi knew better. The dragon's head burst out of the dark abyss, its body still pulsating with energy.

As Xaldin landed on top of his makeshift dragon, Kairi's eyes grew wider as the mouth of the mechanized beast opened up and began charging up. "Oh, now that's messed up," Kairi muttered.

"Beware the face of despair!" A giant wind tunnel burst from the dragon's maw, its head sweeping the entire length of the bridge.

Thinking quickly, Kairi leapt behind one of the statues lining the arena and tucked herself in as the tornado squall passed dangerously close over her head. As soon as the beast expelled its energy, Xaldin re-entered the battlefield, the monster transforming back into regular-sized lances.

_"You know at times like these,"_ Naminé began, _"I wish we could just summon the Keyblade back to our hand. We'd be able to throw it without having to go back and retrieve it."_

"Thanks a lot, Nomura," Kairi grumbled. She aimed the Keyblade at Xaldin and fired off another Blizzaga spell. Unfortunately, she was too far away which gave Xaldin enough time to thrust one of the lances into the ground and swing his entire body out of harm's way.

"You're still too inexperienced for battle, Princess!" he taunted. Xaldin began to rapidly teleport around the field, causing giant air pockets to form and fold upon themselves. Kairi tried to keep tabs on Xaldin's position, but he was teleporting around the arena too quickly for her eyes to keep up.

_"Two-to-one odds that he ends up behind us,"_ Naminé said. Kairi twirled her Keyblade and thrust it backwards. She heard a stony crunch as her weapon made contact with a hard object. _"That didn't sound natural."_ Kairi whipped her head around and saw that she had stabbed the statue behind her right between its legs. Before she could say anything, Xaldin finally teleported directly in front of her, his lances already in mid-swing. Kairi felt the wind knocked out of her as the combined mass of all six lances slammed into her stomach, sending her flying across the length of the bridge.

She coughed, her body desperately trying to regain air. After a few seconds, Kairi staggered back to her feet as Xaldin began to form his dragon once again. "Oh no you don't!" she roared. Kairi Aerial Dodged into the air and grabbed hold of the dragon's body.

"What are you doing?" Xaldin yelled from the air. As the dragon slithered over the side of the bridge, it suddenly jerked its body upward, taking her by surprise.

Kairi's heart stopped as she felt herself lose her grip and plummet into the abyss. Her descent seemed to make everything happen in slow motion. She could see the dragon start to shrink from view. Xaldin's face looked sadistically gleeful. Memories she hadn't thought of in a long time flashed before her eyes. She felt her mind becoming overwhelmed by fear and panic. _"Not like this!"_ she thought. _"I don't want to die falling into the darkness like this!"_

**FLASH!**

_"So Riku's taught you how to Aerial Dodge, huh?" Sora asked her._

_"Yeah, but I wish you would teach me how to Glide," she pouted cutely._

_"I actually just learned a neat trick recently that I've been meaning to show you."_

_"Oh really?"_

_He grinned at her with that mesmerizing smile. "Remember that Magnega spell that I taught you a few days ago?"_

_"You mean the one that began to pull my dress in?" she asked._

_"Do you have to keep bringing that up? I already said that I was sorry!"_

_"Just get to the point," she sighed impatiently._

_"Okay, I was falling, right? I started to panic and automatically summoned the Keyblade. I found out that you can actually chain Magnegas together so they'll be able to pull you upward." She looked at him in confusion. "Like a conveyor belt," he clarified._

_"How exactly did you end up falling anyway?" She batted her eyelashes at him. "Were you dreaming that you saw yourself plunging into the ocean again?"_

_Sora grinned sheepishly. "Actually, I was trying to grab a coconut from that tall palm tree."_

_"You mean the one that's hanging over the waterfall?" She shook her head in amusement. "Oh, Sora. You're still hopeless."_

**FLASH!**

_**"GATHER!"**_ The orb of gravity formed directly in front of her. She reached out with her free hand, praying that her plan would work. Fortunately, the Magnega orb sensed the object hurtling away from it and began to pull it to its core. Kairi's body immediately halted its descent and began to orbit around the orb. Before she made contact with the center, Kairi fired off another Magnega orb when she reached the peak of her momentum. She repeated the process, making her way back upward until she was safely back on the bridge.

Xaldin's back was to her as he was looking over the other side of the bridge, his lances hovering lazily behind him. Taking advantage of the situation, Kairi swiftly and silently charged at him. It was only when she was three feet behind him before he noticed her surprise blitz.

Kairi grabbed one of his stationary lances and plunged it straight into the ground. Using her body's momentum, she swung around and slammed a kick into Xaldin's midsection. While he was stunned, Kairi released her grip, grabbed another lance in mid-air while she was flying sideways, pierced the ground and rammed her feet into the middle of his back. She kept both hands on the lance as she slinked downward to the ground, her back rubbing against the lance. She gave a toss of her head to remove the hair that had unceremoniously draped itself over her face.

_"Nice pole dancing, girl,"_ Naminé laughed. _"Ever think of becoming a stri-"_

"Don't even finish that sentence, Naminé," Kairi retorted. Before he could recover, Kairi quickly and swiftly grabbed the remaining lances and used them to pin Xaldin to the ground. His eyes widened as Kairi towered over him, her Keyblade gleaming in the moonlight. She straddled his pinned body with one foot on each side of him and raised her Keyblade.

**"TAKE THIS!"** she roared as she plunged her weapon dead center into the Lancer's form. She pulled the Keyblade out smoothly and cleanly, data streams beginning to bleed out from the mortal wound.

As Xaldin's form disintergrated, a huge powerful gust exploded from underneath Kairi, causing her dress to blow upward. "EEK!" She desperately pushed down as best as she could, but the unyielding wind kept the fabric suspended that would've given anyone a good look at the color of her underwear. The wind finally died down as soon as Xaldin vanished.

Kairi smoothed down her dress with her hands. "Where'd that wind come from?"

_"Someone with a dirty mind, I'd guess,"_ Naminé muttered darkly.

"I thought we were done with the perverted stuff!" Kairi whined.

Naminé sighed. _"Kairi? This is the Organization we're talking about. They're made up of a bunch of guys who haven't got any action since they became Nobodies. It's kinda expected."_

"I think they weren't successful in dating even BEFORE they became Nobodies," Kairi amended. "And with personalities like that, who would go out with those creeps anyway?"

_"Kinda makes you wonder if they're all gay."_

Kairi cringed. "Um...ew. Thanks for putting really disturbing images in my mind, Naminé."

Naminé giggled. _"It's what I'm here for."_


	27. A New Attack? & King Mickey's Info

_FLASH! Another memory of Sora flashed before Kairi's eyes. However, this time it was a younger version of him that raised the Keyblade over his head, yelling **"WIND!"**/b A wind barrier instantly formed around Sora, protecting him from minor harm that would otherwise injure him..._

"Huh. I never knew Sora could use Aeroga before," Kairi commented. She was sitting against the circular wall that lined the lower level, massaging her aching feet with her boots discarded beside her.

_"You know, I've been thinking..."_ Naminé began.

"About what?"

_"We've got all these magic spells, our own evasion move, and one of the sickeningly girlish looking Keyblades I've ever seen,"_ Naminé said with a hint of irony in her voice. _"I just realized there's one more thing we need before we can actually call ourselves a true Keyblade wielder."_

"A damsel in distress?" Kairi guessed.

_"No, a Limit! We don't have our own special ultimate attack!"_ Kairi nodded at this statement thoughtfully.

"Yeah. I mean, Sora's got Trinity Limit/Ultima, Riku's got Dark Aura." She began to slip back on her boots. "Even Roxas has that annoying light orb attack that for some reason he failed to use when we went up against him."

_"Exactly."_

The girls began walking up the ramp and headed for the second-to-the-last cove. "But how exactly do you do a Limit anyway?" Kairi mused. "Sora and Riku never explained how they do theirs."

In the back of Kairi's mind, Naminé shrugged. _"I'm not sure. Maybe it's one of those things that show up when you really need it."_

"Well, we've gone through eleven Organization members already who most of them almost succeeded in killing us. Except Demyx." Kairi rolled her eyes. "He got what he deserved, but I think we overdid it with the wedgie."

_"Maybe,"_ Naminé said only half-listening, _"but if we don't get a Limit soon, we'll probably not be able to use one at all."_

They stopped in front of Xigbar's shadowy object. "Is that a fan?" Kairi asked as she peered closer.

_"It could be an axe..."_ Naminé suggested.

Kairi shook her head. "No, wait. Now I remember. Xigbar used to shoot people." She extended out her arm.

_"A gun, huh?"_ Naminé stifled a yawn. _"After seeing people with cards, musical instruments and books as weapons, I guess a basic standby like this is pretty refreshing from the unusual."_

The light faded for the umpteenth time, depositing the girls in the Hall of Empty Melodies. Kairi took a good look at her surroundings. "I definitely remember this place," she said. Kairi pointed upward at the second floor. "Riku and I were fighting up there."

_"Yeah,"_ Naminé said in a serious tone, _"Back when we first got this Keyblade from him."_ Kairi could feel that something else was bugging her.

"What's up?"

_"Where exactly did Riku get it anyway?"_ Naminé asked. _"If I remember correctly, he only had Way to the Dawn."_

Kairi shrugged. "I'm not sure. I asked him about it before, but all he said was that he used his powers of darkness or something."

_"So this could be a dark Keyblade we're wielding?"_ Naminé asked. Before either of them could give it any more thought, the data streams began to appear right before their eyes.

"I guess it's go time." Kairi sighed as she got into her ready stance.

_"You mind if I take this one?"_ Naminé asked. _"You can have Xemnas afterwards, I promise."_ Kairi thought about it for a moment. She hadn't dared to use Curaga to heal herself from the previous battle in case their magic wouldn't finish recharging in time. And switching was the easiest way to do both, so...

"All yours, girl." Before Xigbar's body finished forming, Kairi closed her eyes and relinquished control.

As Naminé opened her eyes, she checked herself. "Completely undamaged," she stated with a satisfied tone.

The first thing she noticed as Xigbar stood before her was that he wasn't holding his weapons. "Have you been a good little girl?" he taunted.

"Shut up, Braig," Naminé snapped as she got into her battle stance.

"Oh." Xigbar shook his head. "It sounds like you haven't. But I guess it can't be helped." He crossed his arms over his chest. Naminé shot him with a suspicious glare before she suddenly felt a pair of hands crawling up her sides.

"YEEEK!" Naminé shrieked. She quickly jumped forward and whipped her head around to see a pair of gloved hands suspended in mid-air, wiggling its fingers.

"A bit jumpy, ain't ya?" Xigbar laughed as he pulled his hands back out of the wormholes.

Naminé stomped her foot in frustration. "What is with all the tickling all of a sudden?"

_"I guess that's a disadvantage of being cute,"_ Kairi grumbled. _"Every guy wants to tickle you at least once. Besides,"_ she added, _"I don't think wearing the skimpiest paper-thin dress in all existence actually helps either."_

"At least I'm wearing underwear," Naminé muttered back. Then to Xigbar, "Don't tell me you're a perv like Vexen as well?!"

"Vexen?" Xigbar repeated. "You mean, the old coot who would be going through Larxene's laundry every Friday?" He shook his head. "As if. Not everyone thinks you're a god's gift to guys, you know."

Naminé's eyes widened at the insult. _"Did he just call you ugly?"_ Kairi asked.

"At least I don't have a voice like some surfer pirate reject," Naminé shot back.

Xigbar wagged his finger at her. "Oh dear. I think you've got the wrong impression," he said. "I know. It's the eye-patch. But I wear it for a reason." He grinned at her, distorting his scarred features even further. "It helps my aim."

"Whatever, you spaz," Naminé growled. "You probably shot your own eye out with those gun arrows of yours."

_"That would explain a lot,"_ Kairi commented.

Naminé sighed. "I guess the Organization's big master plan's almost complete and you're not going to tell us squat."

Xigbar laughed. "You betcha! Like my philosophy says: 'You can talk all you want, but it won't change a thing.'"

"Then why in blue blazes are we even having this conversation?" Naminé yelled. "If you wanted to kill us, you should've done it already, not doing some villainous monologue!" Her grip on the Keyblade tightened with anger. "You've been torturing us by going through all of these fights with you, and yet not one of you has managed to do it yet!"

"If you and your boyfriends hadn't decided to turn on us, we wouldn't have had to resort to this." Xigbar squinted at her through his eye. "Of course, we could've killed you if we really wanted to."

"Either that or the Organization just sucks at fighting girls," Naminé retorted. Kairi giggled at the remark.

Xigbar rolled his eye. "As if! You don't even look like you're half the hero the others were."

Naminé swiped her Keyblade in a threatening manner. "Come here and say that to my face, cyclops!"

"I've heard what happened back at Castle Oblivion," he stated. "You betrayed your fellow Nobodies for some twerp you never knew."

"If I hadn't," Naminé began, "Marluxia and Larxene would've used Sora to..."

"Enough rambling," Xigbar interrupted. "All I'm telling you, traitor, is that your time is up!"

"Well, it could be worse," Naminé thought as she got back into her fighting stance. "He could be using those wormholes to split my body all over the place and make me go through Vexen's torture again." A chill ran down her spine at the thought.

_"Agreed,"_ Kairi said. _"It's one thing to be restrained. But having absolutely no body movement at all would be complete and utter hell."_

Purple crossbow shaped weapons appeared in his hands. The cocking of the guns' barrels rang throughout the room. As Xigbar twirled the gun arrows in his hands, he gave the memory witch a crafty grin. "You really shouldn't have betrayed us!"

* * *

"Do you have any idea where we're heading, your Majesty?" Donald asked the King.

The King scratched absent-mindedly behind his ear. "Welp, I'm pretty sure everyone will be heading for the old mineshaft."

King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Tarzan and Hercules had gotten slightly sidetracked from their mission of finding the others due to Goofy leading the group. After a few dead ends (and a few rash phrases from Donald involving the words "wack," "phooey," and "palooka"), King Mickey took charge and began heading for where he believed the others would be.

"How exactly do you know this?" Hercules asked.

Instead of responding, Mickey pointed upward above the rocky cliffs at a green flying object about half a mile from their current position. The others squinted as best as they could. Then Goofy gasped in realization. "That's Peter Pan!"

Mickey chuckled. "Yup! And judging by where he's flying in circles, I'm guessing he's a beacon for everyone who's fighting."

"Bacon?" Goofy wondered.

Donald rapidly shook his head. "No! He said beacon!"

"A-hyuk! Right!" Goofy nodded as he rubbed his paunch and licked his lips. "Still sounds tasty!" Donald rolled his eyes.

The party quickly made their way through the chasms until they spotted Tidus and his group.

"Hey, look!" Donald cried. "It's Auron!" After everyone greeted and introduced each other _("Who's the guy in the loincloth?")_, they got right down to business.

"Have you seen Sora?" Tidus asked.

The others shook their heads. "Actually, we were going to ask you the same thing," the King replied. "We've figured out why Kairi's been kidnapped."

Tidus, Wakka, Auron and Yuna (who had stuck around) were all stunned at the statement. It was Auron who recovered first. "Mind sharing with the rest of us?"

"As many of you already know, Organization XIII was destroyed by both Sora and Riku over the past few years. It turns out, though, that they had a contingency plan in case that ever happened."

"How'd you figure that?" Wakka asked.

"Ansem's computer," the King answered. "Anyway, the first part of their plan was to kidnap Princess Kairi on her sixteenth birthday."

"For what purpose?" Auron wondered. "She was no immediate threat to them."

"Welp, I'm betting that somehow she was. She may have something that the Organization lacks or something that we might need."

"She is a Princess of Heart after all," Goofy added. "Maybe they needed her for her heart."

Auron nodded thoughtfully. "Then what's the next part of their plan?"

"As far as we could tell," Mickey nodded toward Donald and Goofy, "they have a hidden storage room where they keep the essences of the entire Organization via computer data. The plan was to trap her within that room until they gathered enough data."

"Data?" Tidus repeated. "Data for what, exactly?"

"As for that," the King crossed his arms and sighed, "I have no idea."

"Well, what about Ansem's...I mean, Xehanort's Reports?" Goofy asked. "He was the one who sent Kairi to Destiny Islands, right? What if he knew about the decree stating that she had to get married here in Radiant Garden and he's going to extract all of her memories from her heart?"

The group stared at him with blank looks. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Wakka said.

"Hey, guys!" Peter called from above. "Everyone's almost here!"

"By the way," Hercules began, "what are you guys doing here, anyway?"

Tidus shrugged. "Riku told us to gather here for some reason," he explained.

Mickey jumped. "Riku did? But why would he..." The King's sentence trailed off.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other. The court wizard tapped Mickey on the shoulder. "Your majesty?"

"It looks like we didn't have to tell Sora and Riku after all," Mickey muttered. "They probably already know where Kairi's being held captive. In fact," he scratched behind his other ear, "the Organization's computer is probably at the other end of this mineshaft."

Auron looked at him suspiciously. "And how would you know this?"

King Mickey shook his head. "Call it a hunch. But if I'm right," Mickey's eyes narrowed, "we're going to need all the help we can get."


	28. Sora's Party: Complete!

Before Naminé could take a single step, Xigbar rotated the weapons in his hands and with a loud KA-CHICK, they formed together into a sniper rifle.

"Gotcha now!" And with that, the Freeshooter jumped through a wormhole and reappeared on a high ledge, hopelessly out of range.

"What the..." Naminé ran to the edge of the platform and pointed the Keyblade at him. "Get back down here, you coward!"

_"Uh, Naminé? Now might be a good time to run,"_ Kairi suggested.

"Why?" Sharp arrowheads blazed through the air straight toward her. "Oh." She turned to run from the incoming fire. "I thought it was a sniper rifle, not a machine gun!" She could feel the ground exploding behind her heels.

_"You should know how cheap these guys are by now!"_ Kairi retorted.

"OW!" Naminé flinched as a few of the projectiles nicked her across the back of her neck. "Stupid arrows!" she grumbled as she tossed her blonde hair back over the exposed skin.

"Naminé! You should know better than to turn your back on your opponent!" Xigbar called out. "Hasn't the Organization taught you anything?"

"Any bright ideas?" Naminé said as Xigbar paused to reload another clip of ammo.

_"Well, the Magnega chain worked before..."_ Kairi suggested. Not knowing what else to do, she ducked under Xigbar's line of fire and leapt off the platform. The slightest mistake would have the void underneath swallow her into darkness.

Naminé swiped the Keyblade in front of her. **"GATHER!"** The orb of gravity appeared above her, immediately sensing its target flying out of range. Just like Kairi did with Xaldin, Naminé let herself get pulled in before summoning another orb at the apex of her momentum. She swung herself upward and forward as if she were a monkey climbing branches on her favorite tree. Xigbar looked up from his reloading and was stunned that the memory witch would make such a bold move. But he regained his composure and took aim. Naminé was almost within reach when she felt herself being pummeled with arrows straight into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

"Now we can't have that!" Xigbar laughed as Naminé began to go into a freefall. Out of pure reaction, she fired off another Magnega orb, caught it with her Keyblade and swung her body back onto the platform.

She fingered the gaping hole in her dress that the arrows had caused. "Any other suggestions?"

_"I can only think of one,"_ Kairi replied. Naminé nodded, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

She raised the Keyblade over her head. **"THUNDER!"** In a spectacular display of light, bolts of lightning appeared above Xigbar's head and cut themselves right through his system, electrocuting him.

Naminé took one look at Xigbar and couldn't help but giggle. His sleek hair was now frizzy, sparking with electricity and the smell of burnt leather was smoking from him. He gave a little cough of smoke. "Clever little sneak!" he muttered.

He jumped back through his wormhole and reappeared upside-down above the battlefield. Naminé tilted her head to the side. "How in the world can you stand being upside-down like that? Doesn't the blood rush to your head or something?"

Xigbar grinned at her. "Been a whole lot easier since Zexy bought me those gravity boots for Christmas!"

Naminé stopped dead in her tracks, staring at Xigbar in disbelief. "Okay, first of all, you're data now! You don't have gravity boots!" The Freeshooter began to take aim with his weapon. "And second of all, gravity boots are usually used to help people in losing weight!" The downtrodden face of Xigbar was priceless. "Did it ever occur to you that he was hinting at something?"

He lowered his gun. "What? Are you saying that...I'm out of shape?"

Naminé placed her hands on her hips. "Face it, dude. All you do is travel from wormhole to wormhole to get where you're going. When's the last time you actually walked?" As Xigbar contemplated her words, Naminé took advantage by running straight toward him. She took a flying leap, her Keyblade high above her head. Unfortunately, he snapped out of his stupor before she could make contact and teleported to the other end of the field, her Keyblade hitting nothing but air.

Before she could even turn to face him, Xigbar cried out, "Heads up!" His guns suddenly appeared point-blank on each side of Naminé's head. "Bet you're gonna have a splitting headache after this!" He squeezed the triggers.

**"FIRE!"** Fireballs burst out of the Keyblade and began to rapidly orbit the teenager, setting Xigbar's gloves on fire. He immediately pulled his hands back through the wormholes and patted out the flames on his cloak. Naminé gave a toss of her naturally golden hair. "Too hot for you?"

He glared at her through his one eye. "So the little princess knows how to play, huh?" he growled.

Naminé sighed. "Again with the sexist cracks. I mean, seriously. What is with the Organization looking down on me like I'm some helpless three year-old?" She stomped her foot in emphasis. "You guys are lucky that I can't manipulate your memories or I'd be taking pictures that every yaoi fan-girl could only dream of!"

_"I agree,"_ Kairi chimed in. _"We've gone through the Organization's gauntlet and so far we've basically proven that we can kick just as much butt as Sora, Riku and Roxas can!"_

"Exactly! Come to think of it, why are there so many guys in your stupid club anyways? What, every girl you asked didn't feel like hanging around with you losers and your plans for extracting hearts on Saturday nights?" Naminé shook her head. "You people are pathetic. I can't believe I used to be afraid of all of you."

While Naminé was ranting, Xigbar had tucked his hands inside his cloak and was now serenely twirling his guns around in the empty space a few feet from him. "Are you done rambling? 'Cause you're putting me to sleep, bucko!" he yelled out impatiently.

"Oh, shut up!" Naminé snapped. She tightened her grip on the Keyblade.

"You know, I kinda liked you better as that timid little girl that we always picked on," Xigbar said without looking at her. "The way you are right now, you're too much like Larxene."

Kairi gasped. _"Did he just..."_

Naminé felt anger bubbling in the pit of her stomach. "Oh, you did NOT just compare me to that nymph!" she roared.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" Xigbar taunted. He took aim and fired off a round of arrows as Naminé charged in a berserker rage. She positioned the Keyblade as best as she could and tried to deflect the projectiles. To her surprise, the ones that the Keyblade caught were sent straight back at its owner. However, a couple of arrows were able to get past her defenses, causing a few more slits in her dress.

"Figures," Naminé muttered. "I've really got to expand my wardrobe."

"Take th..." Xigbar squeezed the triggers only to realize that he was shooting blanks. His eye widened as Naminé spun into the air and slammed the Keyblade into Xigbar's side, knocking him through the air a few feet. Before she could follow up, the Freeshooter transported himself to the far corner of the arena.

"Arms, reload!" The clip of arrows hanging underneath the nozzles of his guns began lighting up neon pink again. His weapons clacked noisily as he flipped himself right side up and began charging his next shot. "Take this!"

"What the..." As soon as the words left her lips, a bright bluish-white arrow blasted out of the nozzle and shot toward her in an unwavering straight line. Naminé quickly jumped aside letting the shot whiz past her. She looked at Xigbar curiously. "That was the best you..."

Xigbar grinned at her and tapped his pointer finger in the air. It was Kairi who remembered. _"Naminé, jump!"_

The girl automatically obeyed and leapt to her right. Naminé was stunned to see that the exact same arrow that had passed her was now making a return trip straight through where she had been standing. "Ricocheting projectiles?"

Xigbar flipped back right-side up and fired off another...and another. Soon, the entire field seemed to be filled with ricocheting white arrows that bounced around. Naminé had to tear her focus off of Xigbar and begin dodging for her life. The shots bounced off invisible walls and passed through the platform itself as if it were nothing but an illusion.

"Keep practicing, chica!" Xigbar laughed. "One of those arrows has enough charge to send your body into convulsions! Imagine what would happen if you were hit from more than one." Naminé narrowly escaped from an incoming shot by Dodge Flipping to the side. "It'd take you out of this game..." His good eye narrowed at her. "...permanently."

* * *

"Tidus! Wakka!" Selphie's voice rang out. Tidus and Wakka looked up and to their utmost relief, their Destiny Islands friends had finally found them.

"Selphie! Riku!" The gang got into a big group hug. After they finally broke their embrace, Selphie let out a low whistle.

"Is everyone here actually going to fight?" she asked. All of Sora's friends and allies that he had helped out over the years were finally gathered together, mingling as if they were at the wedding reception. Peter Pan and Tinker Bell were still busy keeping lookout from above, though.

"I never knew that Sora knew this many people," Olette gasped in astonishment.

A few feet from them, Hercules strutted up to Auron. "Nice to see you again, Auron!" the Olympian hero greeted. Auron only gave him a heart-warming smirk. Hercules proceeded to pat him on the back. Unfortunately, he ended up getting distracted by the sight of Rikku and Paine flying by. "Faeries?" he muttered as his pat turned into a full-out smack, sending Auron flying into a wall. Hercules grinned sheepishly. "Uh, sorry Auron," he apologized as Auron's body began to peel itself out of the newly formed human-shaped crevice.

* * *

Tron and Tarzan were both looking at each other strangely. "How do you do?" Tron said as he held out his hand. Tarzan only nodded with a grunt. Realizing that this man didn't do handshakes, Tron slowly pulled back his hand. "My name is Tron."

Tarzan stared at him for a few seconds before lightly tapping his own chest with his knuckles. "Tarzan," he replied.

* * *

"Yunie!" Rikku air-tackled Yuna and gave her a tight squeeze. "Where've you been? Me and Paine were worried sick about you!"

Yuna giggled. "Don't worry, I'm fine! I was just sticking around with Tidus and his group."

Paine looked at her suspiciously. "Are you okay?"

Rikku finally let Yuna out of her bear hug. "Yeah, why?"

"Your face looks a little flushed."

"Oh, is it?" Yuna patted her face and was stunned to find her skin was indeed a bit warm. "I guess I'm just a bit tired from flying around."

"Uh huh. Or you might just be falling for Mr. Eenie-Meenie over there!" Rikku teased.

Yuna reddened even more. "That's ridiculous!"

Paine crossed her arms and sighed. "You already know faeries can't mate with humans."

"I wasn't going to mate with him!" she argued.

"Yunie's got a boyfriend! Yunie's got a boyfriend!" Rikku sang.

"Rikku! I'm telling you..." Yuna stammered.

As Rikku and Paine continued to tease her, Leon walked up to Tifa and Aerith, who were sitting on the ground trying to wake up Cloud.

"When'd you and Strife get back?" Leon asked Tifa.

She got to her feet and started patting the dust off of her butt. "About an hour ago."

Leon nodded thoughtfully. "What happened to you guys anyway?"

Before she could answer, Cloud's eyelids finally fluttered open. "Ergh..."

Tifa rushed back to Cloud's side. "Cloud! Are you okay?" she cried.

Cloud winced. "Could you keep your voice down?" He sat himself up and started kneading his forehead. "That really smarted..."

"Cloud," Aerith began, "who did this to you?"

Cloud's eyeballs rolled up past his eyelids as he tried to remember. "My memory's a bit hazy..." He blinked a few times and shook his head. "I'm sorry. But I can't remember right now."

"Hate to ask this, Strife," Leon began, "but you think you can still fight?" Using Aerith and Tifa for support, Cloud clumsily got to his feet.

"I'm fine, Squall." Albeit a little shaky, Cloud let go of the girls and was able to stand on his own. He unsheathed his sword and took a couple practice swings. "I'll be okay."

* * *

"How's everyone at the safe room?" Riku asked.

"No worries!" Aladdin replied, giving him a hearty pat on the shoulder. "They're all doing just fine!"

"Even Belle?" the Prince asked.

"The Princesses are doing quite dandy as well!" Jack Skellington said cheerfully.

"Although that lass of yours has a pretty short temper," Sparrow added.

The Prince glared at him. "If you touched her..." he growled dangerously, sounding eerily like his old self.

"Oh, no worries, mate. She knows how to take care of herself." The Captain massaged his jaw. "And she swings a strong arm too."

"All of them do," Aladdin said with a grin. "Even when he knew that the Princesses were all promised to someone else, the Captain here started flirting with them."

"Is that so wrong?" Sparrow asked rhetorically.

The others laughed at his attempt to sound serious. "As soon as the Captain went into his "This is the day..." farewell speech," Aladdin continued, "all of the Princesses of Heart jumped out of their seats and started beating the sh-"

"It was an amusing sight to be honest," Mulan chuckled.

"I've been slapped by many a damsel," Captain Jack said. "But I'd rather be facing Davy Jones himself than going through all of that again." He shuddered at the thought. "On second thought, bring on the damsels," Sparrow muttered as he glanced in an inside pocket to check on his good luck charm.

* * *

"What the...?!" Wakka took one look at Ariel and frowned. "What are you doing with my spare Blitzball?"

It was Leon who answered him. "She has really strong legs, but she hasn't fought in hand-to-hand combat before," he explained. "So I figured that with the Blitzball she could..."

"Kick it?" Wakka shook his head in amusement. "It's more than just taking aim and swinging your legs. Here let me show you..."

Meanwhile, Pence was asking Cid for pointers about his new weapon: a flamethrower. It looked like an antique camera that professionals once used on tripods back in the days of old. Yuffie was busy stretching out her limbs behind him preparing for the battle that was about to take place.

"Why in the world do you have a flamethrower here?" Pence shifted his grip on the heavy box. "Aren't you afraid that you'll burn the whole town?"

Cid chuckled. "Back in Traverse Town, there was a constant Heartless swarm that always managed to drive any potential customers away from my shop." He gave the weapon a hardy pat. "This little beauty obliterated all those Shadow Heartless in mere seconds!"

"But what if you had destroyed your shop if this ever misfired?"

Cid blinked at Pence. "You ask a lot of questions; you know that, kid?"

"Of course he's going to ask a lot of questions!" Yuffie said excitedly. "He's a teenage boy from a quiet town, not some psychotic arsonist that smokes five packs a day!" She winked coyly at Pence.

Cid whirled around on Yuffie. "Doggone it, girl! Just because I like blowing stuff up with my airship and wielding fire around doesn't make me psychotic!" He crossed his arms. "What about Barret? He likes blowing things up as well!"

"That's only because he forgets to turn the safety on that arm of his!" Yuffie replied. "What's your excuse?"

* * *

On another side of the group, the King was consulting with Jiminy and his Gummi mechanics.

"Chip, Dale..." The King looked at the two chipmunks with worry. "I need you two to get back to the safe room and..." He whispered his instructions quickly and quietly.

The chipmunks saluted. "You got it, your Majesty!" Chip replied.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Dale added. They jumped back on top of Pluto's head and started off to put the King's plan into action.

The King watched them head down the path when he realized that Jiminy was standing right by his feet. "You're not going with them?" Mickey asked.

Jiminy shook his head. "Someone has to record everything that's happening. Who knows..." The court scribe smiled. "Maybe this could become the next big video game."

King Mickey chuckled. "Welp, I admire your enthusiasm. But who would want to play something as tedious as this?"

* * *

"Where's Sora and Kairi?" Tidus asked Riku.

"Kairi's the one who needs rescuing," Riku explained. "As for Sora..." He jerked a thumb over at Roxas. "He's kind of having an identity crisis at the moment."

"Oh, thanks!" Roxas retorted sarcastically. But Tidus didn't get it.

"Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Roxas," Roxas replied holding out his hand.

"The name's Tidus," Tidus said as he gave Roxas a firm handshake. "Are you Sora's twin brother or something?"

"Nobody, actually," Roxas corrected.

"Nobody?" Tidus repeated. "Well, you're definitely somebody. But how are you related to Sora?"

"I just told you, I'm his Nobody."

Tidus shook his head. "I'm still not getting it."

Roxas sighed. "I'm his other half," he clarified. Tidus still had a blank look on his face. Finally Roxas said, "I'm his cousin."

"Oh." Tidus rolled his eyes. "Right. Well, nice to meet you. By the way..." He looked at Roxas suspiciously. "You wouldn't happen to know what Sora did with the tuxedo I lent him, would you?"

Roxas immediately turned to Riku for support, but the Warrior of Dawn shook his head. "Leave me out of this. This is Sora's problem, not mine."

Tidus had his arms crossed as he glared intensely at Roxas. "He ripped it to shreds, didn't he?"

While Roxas was thinking up of an excuse, Mulan walked up to Riku. "Okay, so why did you ask us to gather here, Riku?" she asked. Everyone immediately ceased talking and focused all their attention at the silver-haired youth.

Riku hesitated before answering. But after an encouraging nod from Mickey, he said, "When the Heartless and Nobodies first attacked us, I noticed a strange scent among them. It was pretty faint, but the smell was there."

Simba gave a giant sniff. "You're right. I remember smelling it back at the wedding hall. But it's...familiar somehow."

Riku nodded. "While I was in Xehanort's Heartless' form, I remember passing by this area when I was out on a mission for Ansem the Wise." He pointed toward the mineshaft. "The scent of darkness was strongest in there. But I never had a chance to go inside so I don't know anything beyond that."

Donald and Goofy exchanged a look, but it was Roxas that said what everyone wanted to know. "The Cavern of Remembrance." His face was etched with concern. "I can't believe we have to go through here again."

The group looked at Roxas in surprise. "Wait a minute! You've been here before?" Wakka asked.

Roxas shook his head. "Not me personally, but Sora has." He jerked his thumb over at Donald and Goofy. "So have they."

"Oh yeah!" Donald chuckled. "We came here with Sora a few months ago."

"That's right!" Goofy chimed in. "But the path was crowded with Heartless and Nobodies. They were almost as strong as the Organization!"

"But at the end is a circular computer room that holds data versions of all the members of Organization XIII," Roxas explained. His eyes narrowed. "Including a copy of me."

The group looked stunned. "You mean to tell me Kairi and Naminé are over there right now?" Riku shook his head. "That's not good. What if they accidentally activate one of them?"

"I'm pretty sure that was the plan." Roxas crossed his arms deep in thought. "Why they'd do it is beyond me..."

"Well, it's official! The Princess needs our help!" Tidus swung his sword in emphasis. "So, what are waiting for? Let's do it!" All of Sora's allies roared in agreement.

As the group began to head inside, Sora looked at all his friends through Roxas' eyes. If he was in control at the moment, he would've been smiling. Fortunately, Roxas was already smiling for him. "This has been one crazy day, huh?" Roxas asked.

_"Yeah,"_ Sora agreed, _"But at least it's almost over."_

Roxas nodded. "Naminé. Kairi." He placed a hand over his heart. "Hang on you two. We're on our way."

* * *

"Naminé!" Xigbar was enjoying the sight of Naminé struggling to stay in constant motion.

The blonde teenager found herself having to get into awkward positions to avoid the roaming projectiles. She felt a bit silly having to kick her leg backwards high into the air for a second before cartwheeling in the next. "There's got to be a way to stop these arrows!" she huffed as she backflipped over an incoming projectile.

_"Try the Keyblade again!"_ Kairi suggested. _"It reflected his shots before!"_

Naminé stopped moving and reaffirmed her grip on the Keyblade. She placed her free palm against the blade to reinforce her shield and pushed against one of the shining arrows. Fortunately, the projectile deflected against the surface of her weapon, although its force pushed her back a few inches. Just like before, the shot sped toward the unsuspecting Xigbar, who doubled over in pain as it made contact. While Xigbar was stunned, Naminé ran into the paths of the other energy arrows and swiped the Keyblade at them, causing them to return back to its owner. As the Freeshooter took both hits to the chest, he quickly leapt backward into a wormhole and out of sight.

Naminé blinked. "Where'd he go?" Her eyes quickly scanned the battlefield for a telltale sign of him.

_"Above you!"_ Kairi cried. Naminé didn't even have to think. As soon as she heard Kairi's warning, she tightened the muscles in her legs and threw her body up and backward. With a satisfying crunch, she felt her flash kick make full contact with Xigbar's face.

As soon as Naminé landed, she whirled around to face her opponent. "Enough cheap shots, dude!"

"Oh, I'm a cheap shot?" Xigbar shook his head rapidly to regain his balance. "This from a girl who flashes her assets and uses crotch shots to win." The entire battlefield was blanketed with a brilliant white light, blinding Naminé's vision.

At first Naminé thought she had been teleported back to the Garden of Assemblage. Then she realized that there were big gaping holes in the floor. "What the heck is this supposed to do?"

"So, what d'ya think?" Xigbar said with a flourish. "My masterpiece a la résistance!"

Naminé shuddered. "Ewww, French and surfer accents SO do not mix," she quipped. "And this is supposed to do what exactly?"

_"Reality check, girl."_ Kairi moaned. _"The less space you have to move around, the more likely he won't miss!"_

Naminé glanced at the gaping holes in the floor. "Please!" She took a running start. "I could just jump ov..." Her words were cut short as her face slammed into an invisible wall.

As her body squeaked down the wall, Xigbar chuckled again. "Tcha! You didn't think it would be that easy, did ya?" He took careful aim as Naminé fell unceremoniously on her butt. As soon as she saw the flash of the gun, she instinctively raised the Keyblade to guard. Xigbar's fire reflected back on him, but he was far from dazed. Naminé scrambled to her feet and ran along the narrow pathway to the center where the Freeshooter was positioned. He tried to fire off another volley of shots, but this time she was ready. Naminé shielded herself with the Keyblade and reflected the attack back at him.

Before he could reload, the memory witch pounced and managed to land a solid combo on Xigbar's body. There was another flash of light, but it was quicker this time. The light faded to reveal that the floor was whole again. Naminé was about to let out a sigh of relief when the white light swept over the field for a third time. This time when Naminé's eyes readjusted, she realized that she was now standing on a small solitary platform. Xigbar towered over her, glowing with an unknown aura. He gave her a grin that had the girls feel uneasy. "Look what I saved for ya!"

"Thanks, but I prefer credit unions." Naminé raised the Keyblade over her head and brought it straight down on the lone figure. Unfortunately, the aura was too strong even for the Keyblade and her attack rebounded off of him. Xigbar raised his guns and rotated on his heel as if he were manning a gun turret. He fired off a series of shots that would've skewered Naminé if she hadn't jumped over his line of fire. Before she could get back into an erect position, Xigbar jumped through another wormhole and began circling the platform, firing random bursts of arrows throughout the arena. Naminé dropped back down and stayed as low as she could, Dodge Flipping around the platform.

"Now, let's see how you dance!" Xigbar reappeared, hovering in the middle of the arena. He plunged his hands into the empty space between his legs. Naminé's eyes widened as she saw countless wormholes opening up around her.

"Oh foofie." She immediately began to start running circles around Xigbar as the flurry of bullets splattered the ground behind her. "I am SO glad you took track, Kairi!"

And then tragedy struck. Naminé's sandal lost its traction causing her to slam face first into the ground. She didn't even have time to flip herself face up before the hail of arrows homed in on her position and began to bite savagely at her back. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to scream out in agony. It felt like thousands of knives were cutting into her, ripping her dress and tearing at her skin. _"Hang on, Naminé!"_ Kairi shouted.

As soon as the painful assault ceased, Naminé blinked away her tears and used the Keyblade to prop herself up to her feet.

"Had enough?" the Freeshooter asked, giving her a sadistic grin. "I can keep this up all day, you know!"

Naminé's skin still stung with pain. The back of her dress was completely shredded, exposing her back as if it were a hospital gown. Fortunately, the dress' straps were still intact and there was enough cloth to cover up her butt which saved her from embarrassment. A couple of years ago, she'd have been curled up into a ball crying her eyes out from being abused like this. But a lot had happened in the past few hours and she didn't feel like throwing in the towel yet.

"I won't give up!" Naminé yelled. Her knees were slightly jittery, but her face shone with determination.

"Just give it up already!" Xigbar shouted. "You're only a princess, not a warrior! You should just take your drawing pad and colored pencils and draw like a good little girl! It's the only thing you were ever good at anyway!" Then he burst out laughing. "Scratch that, you were never good at drawing either. I guess you really are useless!"

_"Naminé, just Thundaga his sorry keister already!"_ Kairi snapped.

"There's only enough magic to heal!" Naminé muttered urgently. "And I don't think we can afford to wait for it to recharge." She closed her eyes and cleared her thoughts. "I just need to think..." She imagined all of her aches, her pains, her fears...she imagined them all melting away. She blocked out all distractions and took a deep cleansing breath. There was an unexplainable rush of power that seemed to beat within her heart. "That's it..." Naminé's eyes slowly opened...

...and found herself staring right into the barrel of Xigbar's gun. The Freeshooter grinned slyly. "Boo." Naminé immediately took a step forward with her foot and swung the Keyblade in a sweeping motion, knocking his weapon out of her face, leaving Xigbar wide open.

**WHAM!** She twirled her body around like a ballerina and slammed a backfist into his exposed face, sending him reeling back a few feet.

"Let's dance, 'Cykes'," she growled. Naminé charged at Xigbar, pouring every ounce of her heart's power into the Keyblade.

Xigbar took aim with his gun arrows and fired a round at the memory witch. A rush of adrenaline surged through her veins as she spun her weapon around and easily deflected the projectiles back at him. As the Freeshooter got splattered with his own ammo, he smirked at her ferocity. "Okay, now we're talking!"

Naminé and Kairi focused everything they had into one point. **"LIGHT, GIVE US POWER!"** The Keyblade radiated with a neon-pink aura as the girl pulled it back and swung, unleashing all of her remaining magic into her Limit.

**"HEARTBREAK STARBURST!"** Dozens of red heart-shaped bubbles flew out of the Keyblade's arc and sped toward Xigbar. He took one good look at the hearts through his eye before he burst out laughing.

"That's the best you've got? Just some tiny little bubbles?" He poked at one of them with the tip of his gun.

**KABLAM!** The seemingly harmless projectile exploded into shockingly white-hot starlight, burning his face and effectively blinding him. The burst of starlight started a chain reaction, causing all of the hearts to explode into a cascade of deafening proportions that shook the entire room.

Xigbar squinted through the light trying to figure out what was going on. The last thing he saw was the shadowy form of Naminé pirouetting up into the air and vertically slicing the Keyblade cleanly straight through the exact center of his body.

As soon as Naminé landed softly, she whirled around to see Xigbar drop from the air. The guns clattered to the floor as his body collapsed like a sack of potatoes.

"I lost?" Xigbar muttered. "Me?"

Naminé walked up to the fallen Freeshooter, patting the Keyblade in her palm. "Like I said before," Naminé smirked at him, "the Organization sucks at fighting girls."

The moment the words left her lips, she felt a sharp agonizing pain shoot straight through her heart. Naminé collapsed to her knees, gripping her chest tightly.

"What..." was all that she could let out before screaming out in anguish. Without wanting to, her body immediately converted itself back to Kairi.

Xigbar chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know?" As soon as his data dissolved into nothingness, the pain quickly subsided.

_"What are they doing to us?"_ Naminé cried. Kairi's eyes wouldn't stop tearing up.

"I don't know, Naminé." She slowly and achingly propped herself up with the Keyblade. "But we're going to make them pay." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I promise."


	29. Meanwhile

"How much further?" Mulan's voice echoed throughout the cavern.

"Whatever you do, keep moving forward!" Riku replied. The moment the entire group immersed themselves into the cavern, all hell broke loose. Heartless and Nobodies burst out of every nook and cranny, almost overwhelming the party with sheer numbers. To counter the spawning, the group had split themselves into three teams: Frontal Assault, Second Line, and Preemptive Strike.

The Frontal Assault team consisted of Riku, Roxas, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Mulan, Simba, Hercules and Selphie with Peter Pan as aerial support. Their mission was to fight their way through the mineshaft as quickly as possible, clearing a path for the others.

The Second Line party was formed of Cloud, Tifa, Leon, Tidus, Wakka, Aladdin, Ariel, Tron, and Captain Jack Sparrow. Their objective was to finish off any Heartless or Nobody that the Frontal Assault team might've missed.

And the Preemptive Strike members were made of Hayner, Pence, Olette, Cid, Yuffie, Aerith, Auron, Jack Skellington, Tarzan, and the Prince. Their purpose was to prevent any enemies from sneaking up behind them.

"Stupid Heartless!" Donald raised his staff. **"THUNDER!"** Bolts of lightning sparkled out of thin air, destroying a couple of Neoshadows emerging from the ground. King Mickey was surfing around with Goofy on his shield, swiping at any Nobody that was within Keyblade's reach.

"It's like we're inside a hive or something!" Selphie cried, snapping her weapon at some Dancers. "There's no end to them!"

Riku gritted his teeth as he parried an incoming attack. "I thought you said the Nobodies weren't supposed to attack us until the latter half of this cavern!" he shouted at Roxas.

With a snap of his wrist, Roxas was able to take down another Neoshadow and a Dusk in one swipe. "Don't ask me!" he snapped. "Sora's the one who went through this!" Since Roxas didn't possess most of Sora's abilities, he was forcefully grounded as he hacked and slashed with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. "You know, why are you the only one who can summon Ultima Weapon?" he asked Sora. "Every time I dual-wield, I'm forced to use these exact same Keyblades. Every single time!"

_"Because I made Keyblade master before you did!"_ Sora chuckled. _"I'm the one who gets all the keychains. What do you have?"_

"At least I'm smart enough to use two Keyblades instead of one," Roxas shot back as he shifted his grip.

_"True. But your grip is weaker overall."_

Roxas suddenly felt Riku's back leaning against his own. "He's right you know," Riku said. "Using one Keyblade in each hand makes it easier for someone to disarm you."

"Like you should talk!" Roxas laughed. "You think standing with one hand in front of you makes you look cool? I'm surprised that no one's cut it off yet!"

Riku smirked. "Who cares about the arm? My fangirls focus completely on the fact that I have far sexier abs than you!" He took aim with his Keyblade and released a couple of Dark Auras, causing a few Hot Rods to explode on contact.

_"Whatever!"_ Sora exclaimed. _"At least Roxas and I have girlfriends!"_

Riku shook his head in amusement. "At least I'm not whipped like a couple of bushy-haired saps I know."

Mulan, Simba and Hercules were looking over at the Key-wielding duo oddly. "Who's Riku talking to?" Simba asked as he crushed a Heartless with his paw.

"I believe he said his name was Roxas," Selphie answered. She snapped her weapon a couple of times, cracking the air with mini sonic booms.

Hercules slammed a megaton fist into a Berserker. "No, he means why is Riku talking like there's a third person there?"

Selphie shrugged. "Oh, he's talking to Sora." The others looked at her in shock.

"Sora's here? I haven't seen him since this whole incident began!" Hercules exclaimed. He grabbed a Dusk with his bare hands, tied it up into a funny balloon animal and tossed it aside.

Selphie continued to stay light on her feet, concentrating more on the battle than the issue. "From what Riku said, Sora and Roxas both share the same body," she explained. "And for some reason, only certain people can talk to both of them at the same time."

"So this Roxas is sharing Sora's body?" Mulan cleanly pulled her sword out of a dissolving corpse. "I was wondering why that hair looked familiar," she muttered.

* * *

"Kinda makes you yearn for the old days when battles were turn-based, huh?" Leon quipped as the Gunblade slashed through a few Nobodies. The Second Line team was caught up in their own war as the Frontal Assault members trudged onward.

Cloud chuckled slightly. "At least I'm not ripping off someone else's moves."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Come on! That Lion Heart Limit of yours?" Cloud flipped over a Neoshadow's head and stabbed it from behind. "That's just a cheap imitation of my Omnislash." He raised an eyebrow. "Don't deny it."

"If it's anyone who's copying," Leon jerked his head toward Tidus, "it's that kid. That Blitz Ace of his came from both of our attacks!"

Tidus whipped around at Leon. "Hey! At least I when I do damage, it's over four digits!" he scoffed. "Unlike your lame 9999 points per hit!" Tidus ducked under a sneak attack and stabbed his sword blindly behind him, obliterating a Sorcerer.

"Well, you've got a lot to learn, kid!" Leon yelled. "Defeating an enemy isn't all about damage count!" His Gunblade glowed brightly against the dark purple backdrop of the cave's walls.

Cloud nodded. "He's got a point. It's about style as well!"

Tidus grinned. "Then I have the both of you beat! At least my finisher ends with a sweet bicycle kick! All you guys can do is use fancy explosions!"

"Don't knock it 'til you try it, kid!" Leon shot back as he ran after some stray Shadows.

"Are the guys always like that?" Ariel asked Tifa as they double-teamed an unsuspecting Armored Knight.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Only during group gatherings like this. And FF conventions," she added.

"FF conventions?" Ariel repeated. "What are those?"

"Oy!" Ariel and Tifa turned toward Jack Sparrow's shout. The Captain was busy crossing blades with a few Dragoon Nobodies single-handedly. "I could use a little assistance!"

The girls glanced at each other. "Shall we?" Tifa cracked her knuckles enthusiastically.

"You know it!" Ariel took the Blitzball and lazily dropped it in front of her. After the first bounce, she winded up her kick and blasted it with thunderous force. The flaming projectile destroyed one of the Dragoons and ricocheted off the cavern wall.

"Rebound!" Tifa called. Captain Jack barely had time to dodge as Cloud's childhood friend leapt into the ball's path and spin-kicked it straight through two more Nobodies.

"Hey! Watch where you're kicking that thing!" Sparrow warned. "You almost took my bloody head off!"

"You two are pathetic!" Wakka laughed sardonically as he saw the ball flying towards him. "THIS is how you score a goal!" He swung his leg backwards and executed a flawless bicycle kick. The Blitzball tore through the remaining Dragoon. Unfortunately, the ball kept going and ended up crunching itself into Jack's "jewels."

Ariel, Wakka, and Tifa cringed. "That's gotta hurt," Tifa commented.

"You scored a goal alright," Ariel added with her hands over her mouth in shock.

Wakka smiled apologetically at Sparrow. "Oops. My bad." The Captain's eyes rolled upward into its sockets as he collapsed to his knees in pain.

A strange thought suddenly popped into Ariel's head. "You know, I've been wondering."

"About what?" Wakka asked.

Ariel ran up to Sparrow's convulsing form and picked up the Blitzball without looking at him. "What does it feel like when someone smashes you guys in the crotch?"

Before any of the guys could reply, Tron said, "It's like having the wind knocked out of you. Instead of being hit in the stomach, the pain comes from below the belt."

"Hmm..." Ariel nodded thoughtfully. "So that's how it is..."

"Wait..." Aladdin looked at Tron suspiciously. "How would you know about how male anatomy works?"

"Yeah!" Wakka chimed in. "You're a computer program! You don't have any!"

Tron shrugged with indifference. "Ansem the Wise," he replied. "When he wasn't researching the heart, he'd be looking up information on the...er...body."

"The body?" Tifa repeated.

"Sites that aren't appropriate to talk about," Tron clarified. "Ansem was really peculiar when it came to bodily functions."

* * *

"The door we have to get through is on the other side of these pipes," Roxas was saying. "So, how are we supposed to get across this?" Roxas and Riku were perched on the edge of an alcove, looking over the fighting that was taking place below them. To the left of them was a steel gate leading to another alcove with a set of familiar looking white doors.

"How'd Sora get around last time?" Riku asked.

_"I Glided,"_ Sora answered in his astral voice. _"Wasn't easy, though. I fell like thirty times before making it across."_

"You fell off at least thirty times?!" Roxas gasped in awe. "How are you not dead?"

_"I had Glide to soften my descent,"_ Sora explained.

"Which you wouldn't have if I hadn't merged back with you," Roxas muttered. "So why don't we switch out and you get us to the other side?"

_"You said that switching is just like Driving, right?"_ Roxas nodded. _"Well, Driving takes a lot of energy out of me. And since I'm not only changing my clothes but my entire body..."_ Roxas' eyes subconsciously scanned the dusty walls of the cave. _"If we switch back now, I don't think I'd have enough energy to defend ourselves. And besides..."_ Roxas looked back at Riku. _"...this gives you a chance to prove your independence."_

"He's right," Riku said. "As much as it might hurt, Sora's surpassed you when it comes to ability."

Roxas was silent for a moment. The rest of the Frontal Assault team were busy keeping the Heartless and Nobody swarm at bay behind them. Riku waited patiently as Roxas contemplated his words. Finally he asked, "So, how else do we get across?"

As if on cue, a swarm of Hook Bats popped out of thin air on the other side of the gate. Sensing the intruders on the other side, they began to make their way around. Riku glanced at Roxas and smirked. "Any other questions?" Roxas hastily put away his Keyblades.

"I'm gonna need both hands for this after all," he muttered to himself. He flexed his fingers in anticipation. The swarm of Heartless finally flapped into view toward the two Keybearers. Roxas took a running start and took a leap of faith, propelling himself off the edge of the cliff. He reached his arm out for the nearest Heartless. His fingers managed to snag the hook underneath. Following Roxas' lead, Riku jumped off as well and began swinging across the gap.

_"You know, if Tarzan were here, he'd probably be jealous right about now,"_ Sora chuckled.

"Quit talking," Roxas mumbled. "Trying to concentrate here..." As creepy as it felt having to depend on these creatures, Roxas continued using his momentum to swing from Heartless to Heartless.

Unfortunately, he was so focused on his timing, he didn't notice the group of Bookmasters rapidly closing in on him. "Roxas, look out!" In mid-swing, Riku fired a couple of Dark Auras with his Keybearing hand at the oncoming Heartless. Unfortunately, his shot went wild and missed its target, accidentally hitting Roxas with friendly fire. Before he knew what was happening, Roxas felt his grip being ripped away as his body began to descend into the empty void.

He felt his heart stop as the traumatic memory of him falling off the train station tower flashed before his eyes. His body instinctively flailed about reaching out for anything to hold onto. The shock began to overwhelm his system as his eyes began to flutter shut.

"This feeling...it's familiar somehow..." Roxas felt his muscles begin to relax, his body going limp. "Falling into darkness..."

_"Roxas! Snap out of it!"_ Sora shouted. _"Our body's going into shock! You have to open your eyes!"_

"But I..." Roxas thought trailed off. He could feel the wind rushing past him, but everything seemed to go in slow motion. "Just let me..."

"Need a lift?" It was not Sora's voice that rang out, but...

Roxas' eyes snapped open and was immediately blasted with a faceful of pixie dust. "Gah! My eyes!" Roxas began rubbing the powder out of his eyes with the back of his hands.

"Oh, quit being a drama queen!" Peter Pan floated serenely with his hands on his hips. "It's only pixie dust. It'll dissolve after a few seconds."

As the last of his tears washed away any trace of the dust, Roxas glared at Peter full in the face. "What was that for?!" he shouted. Instead of answering, Peter tapped his finger downward. Roxas was confused for a few seconds before he realized that he could no longer feel the air rushing past him.

"A little pixie dust and some happy thoughts will keep you afloat," Peter explained.

Roxas was speechless at first. When he finally regained his voice, he asked, "But how long does it last?"

Peter scratched his head in thought. "I'd guess for people who didn't originate from Neverland, I'd say about twenty minutes."

Roxas glared at the Heartless who were still hovering above him. "That's all I need," he growled through gritted teeth. Roxas summoned back his Keyblades, pointed them over his head and sped toward the unsuspecting Bookmasters. **"TAKE THAT!"** Like a torpedo through water, Roxas drilled straight through the Heartless, destroying them instantly. As he flipped back into an upright position, he felt slight satisfaction in the fact that he was finally able to do something that Sora could no longer do. The dual-wielder grinned from ear to ear. "I could get used to this."

* * *

While the other two teams were ahead, the Preemptive Strike team was busy keeping the creatures from overtaking them from behind.

"What is with these things?!" Olette shouted. She futilely tried to use her new weapon, but it kept tangling itself around her feet. "And how are you supposed to use this stupid jump rope?"

Hayner broke off from a Samurai that had just tried to kill him and shouted, "Pence! Cover the rear!" Pence aimed carefully with his flamethrower at the creatures that were closing in on them.

"Say cheese!" Pence squeezed the trigger and was instantly thrown back by the force of the recoil as giant rocket booster-sized fireballs blasted out of its nozzle. "Whoa!" He landed not-so-subtly on his butt. The flames incinerated a good mass of the creatures, but more than double seemed to take their place. Pence quickly leapt to his feet and pulled the trigger again. Unfortunately, ash and gunpowder came petering out of the nozzle. "Hey! What the...?" He began to give a few taps with his palm. "Why isn't it firing any more?"

"You've got to give it a chance to recharge, kid!" Cid shouted. "It's not a machine gun!"

"Now you tell me!" Pence's eyes grew round as dinner plates as three Dusks came slithering through the air and pounced at him.

**"AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"** Pence didn't even have time to turn his head when Tarzan came lunging into view, yelling at the top of his lungs with his signature jungle cry. He stared at his opponents with ferocious intensity.

Suddenly, he attacked! His graceful, fluid movements made it look as if he were dancing with the Dusks. He wasted no motion; every move he made was clean and precise. After destroying the creatures, Tarzan gave Pence a curt nod before gliding out of sight.

Pence stared at the "Lord of the Jungle" in awe as he watched Tarzan bouncing off walls, darting in and out of attack range, taunting his opponents with a series of indistinguishable grunts. "I wish my body looked like that," he sighed.

On the other side of the cavern...

"Careful, Aerith!" Yuffie warned. "You don't want to get stabbed again!"

"I already told you, that wasn't me!" Aerith huffed. She swung her staff above her head like a propeller and brought it down forcefully on the head of a Crimson Jazz. "It was my twin sister!"

"Well, how are we supposed to know that?" Yuffie rotated her giant shuriken around her hand and cracked it against a Dragoon. "She traveled with us that year before Radiant Garden was destroyed by the Heartless! And we didn't meet you until after Sephiroth was defeated!"

"Aren't you getting your stories messed up?" Cid asked calmly smoking a cigarette. "I've been taking care of you, Aerith and Leon ever since the days of Ansem the Wise. The whole Cloud/Sephiroth incident didn't come around until after Ansem disappeared!" As a group of Armored Knights came tromping towards him, he popped the still smoking cigar out of his mouth and tossed it over his shoulder in the midst of them, instantly setting them on fire and incinerating the whole lot. "Aerith stayed behind during that time. We met her twin sister Aeris over in Midgar and..."

"Did you forget, Cid?" Aerith interrupted. "I went with you guys until I switched places with Aeris over near Nibelheim. Then Aeris got herself stabbed and died because no one thought of using a Phoenix Down on her." She shook her head sadly. "Then the Heartless came in and destroyed that world sending all of us back to Hollow Bastion before Sephiroth could take it over."

"But if that were true, then how did we get all the Materia?" Yuffie asked.

"It's the remnants from the other world," Aerith said. "When the Heartless destroyed it, the fragments were formed into those small crystal balls you keep stealing."

Yuffie held her head as if she had a migraine. "Wait! So, Materia is like Gummi blocks?"

"Not to be rude or anything," the Prince broke in, "but is this really the best time to break the fourth wall?!" He was still getting used to his new weapons (a pair of bear claws). Unfortunately, his human form was slow to react to his thoughts, making him extremely frustrated and short-tempered.

Cid, Aerith and Yuffie looked at each other. Aerith cleared her throat. "What are you talking about?"

"I..." The Prince was about to explain, but felt it was a waste of time to get involved. "You know what? Never mind."

"Whoa!" Hayner was forced to duck underneath another Samurai's swipe as he clumsily countered with his own attack. Unfortunately, the Samurai was too fast for him and managed to get under Hayner's guard, tackling him down with its shoulder.

"Hayner!" Pence and Olette could only watch helplessly as the Nobody cocked back its blade for one final thrust. Hayner instinctively brought the Gunblade in front of him like a shield...

Cid dived in and smacked the Nobody's blade upward with his spear. "Not on my watch!" he roared as he twirled his weapon around and over before piercing through the Samurai's core, obliterating it instantly. Hayner reeled back from shock. Cid shook his head slightly as he extended a hand to help the teenager to his feet. "Get your head in the game, kid!" he scolded. "This isn't one of your mock fights with those silly foam bats where you can just brush yourself off!"

"He's right," Auron added sternly from a few feet away. "This is a battlefield of war. Dying is a high possibility."

"I know that! But..." Hayner looked around at the countless creatures appearing from their portals of darkness. "How can you guys keep fighting? You look like you're not even breaking a sweat!"

Auron and Cid glanced at each other knowingly. Yuffie winked at Hayner. "Welcome to real-life combat!"

* * *

When the other members of the Frontal Assault team caught up with Roxas and Riku (and Peter shook Tinker Bell dry of pixie dust), they used their newfound ability of flight to speed through the white hallways of the latter half of the cavern. They blazed through so fast that the Nobodies and Heartless didn't have time to pop out before the last of the team was already out of range.

"We don't have time for this!" Roxas yelled as he plowed over any creature that dared to get into his path. "We're almost..." All of a sudden, Roxas felt his entire body drop out of the sky and his face scraped the white marble floor as the pixie's magic wore off. Seeing Roxas make a crash landing, Riku quickly righted himself up so he would land safely on his feet.

The Dawn Wielder sidestepped a few Dusks, whirled around and stabbed them from behind. "Roxas!"

Roxas rubbed his face vigorously. "I'm okay!" he assured Riku, hastily getting to his feet. As the others ran to catch up with them, Riku and Roxas charged ahead. The sounds of Keyblades ripping through Heartless and Nobodies alike echoed throughout the hall.

"It's down this hallway!" Roxas yelled behind him. The Frontal Assault members managed to close the gap between themselves and the Keybearers, but were forced to halt as creature after creature emerged from their corridors of darkness, endlessly swarming the group.

"Couldn't you just summon some Samurais to take care of them?" Riku grunted as he parried a Berserker's strike.

Roxas shook his head. "That's like me asking you if you could change into your Rikunort form and finishing these guys off!"

Riku whirled around on Roxas. "I told you before not to call me that!" He fired a Dark Aura behind his shoulder without breaking his gaze. "It sounds like a pig's name or something."

Roxas laughed sardonically. "What, because of the "nort" at the end? At least people don't go around calling you "BHK!""

"What?" Riku exclaimed. "People stopped calling you that a LONG time ago! Besides," he added, "I thought you liked being called the "Heartbreak Kid!""

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I said "BHK," not "HBK." There's a difference."

Opportunity suddenly presented itself as a small opening in the Nobody/Heartless mass formed. Roxas chanced a glance at Riku who made it obvious they were both thinking the same thing. They quickly broke away from their opponents and dove through the gap. The creatures immediately began to gave chase as Riku and Roxas blitzed for the door...

...the door to their light...


	30. Recaps & Regrets

"This is it. Xemnas." After healing and taking a few minutes to let her feet breathe, Kairi laced up her boots, picked up her Keyblade and was now standing in front of the final blue cove. "It all ends here."

Naminé was deep in thought._ "Hey, Kairi?"_

"Hm?"

_"You really think this'll be over once we beat him?"_ Naminé asked. _"I mean, we still haven't figured out what the Organization's plan is."_

Kairi nodded thoughtfully. "Let's go over what we know so far. This all started back after we fought Roxas. A little heart murmur, but it was still a disturbance just the same. Next, Marluxia lets slip that they were trapped in this computer database testing something."

_"Or someone,"_ Naminé added. _"Then after we fought Luxord, we realized that they might be scanning your heart's memories."_

"Right, because they can't mess with them without you knowing about it." Kairi unconsciously flexed her fingers. "We fight Axel and his advice was to "never lose sight of your light in the darkness." Whatever that means." Her head dropped to her chest in thought. "And the pain in our heart grew even stronger. Next, we learn from Saix that they WANT us to fight. Then Zexion shows that he can block the mental connection between us.

_"Lexaeus tells us that the power of darkness tainted our heart,"_ Naminé said. _"The fear and doubt made it that way."_

"Do we really need to go over what Vexen said?" Kairi shuddered at the memory of his sullen face. "All I remember him saying is that the anger inside us was necessary for their plan?"

_"Yeah,"_ Naminé agreed. _"Xaldin said the exact same thing."_

"Didn't Vexen say somethine else? About how tickling me was for research or something?" Kairi felt goosebumps crawling over her skin.

_"Nah. That was just one of his perverted quips,"_ Naminé said sympathetically. _"It's not important."_

Kairi shrugged. "Then Xigbar tells us that they have no intention of killing us, but they're still going all out anyways." She massaged her chest slightly. "We beat him and there's pain in our heart again. But this time it's the strongest than it's ever been."

_"And now we're here. About to take on the Organization's last survivor."_ Naminé giggled._ "Nervous?"_

Kairi smirked. "This guy could turn any Nobody into a Dusk; Sora couldn't finish him off by himself, and he's just as powerful as Xehanort's Heartless. Of course I'm nervous. Wouldn't you be?" She reached for the symbol in front of her.

_"Point taken."_ Naminé sighed. _"I guess all we can really do right now is to keep moving forward."_

Kairi's hand was just inches from Xemnas' symbol when the double doors on the other side of the room burst wide open. "Kairi!" To her disbelief, the forms of Roxas and Riku stood in the doorway.

"Riku! Roxas!" She began to turn toward them. Unfortunately, a mysterious force seemed to yank her still outstretched hand toward the symbol, activating the light that would transport her away from her friends.

"NO!" Roxas and Riku sped toward her fading form futively, but Kairi's body was already enveloped by the light. Then she was gone.

Roxas instinctively ran up to the cove and tried to reach his hand in, but an invisible barrier prevented him from going any further. The usual blue aura was now a sickening yellow. He started beating on the barrier with his fists shouting, "Naminé! Kairi!" Roxas whipped around at Riku. "We've got to save them!"

Riku grimaced in agreement, but for once he was clueless. While he was thinking, the rest of the Frontal Assault members were struggling to keep the Nobodies from entering. Fortunately, with the help of Peter Pan, the Second Line and Pre-emptive Strike teams were finally able to catch up with everyone to help defend the doorway.

"Hold the line, people!" Yuffie shouted over the din. "We can't let these guys in!"

Hercules was busy keeping a Berserker from cleaving his head off. "You don't have to tell us twice!"

"Tron!" Leon gritted his teeth as he pushed against an Assault Rider's staff. "Take all of the kids and get them inside while we hold them off!"

"What?!" Hayner looked at Leon increduously. "We came here to help!"

"Yeah!" Olette chimed in as she stood alongside Selphie. "We don't abandon our friends to fend for themselves!"

Leon shook his head, his Gunblade now glowing with focused energy. "I don't remember this being up for debate!"

Hayner and Olette were about to protest, but Pence calmed them down. "He's right! Besides, Roxas and Riku might need us!" Seeing the logic in his argument, they reluctantly headed for sanctuary through the door. Following Pence and Tron's lead, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Hayner and Olette jumped through the doorway and slammed the door behind them, effectively muffling the sounds of battle. As Tron was making sure that the kids were alright, Roxas ran up to the group in a panic.

"Pence! You're a computer programmer, right?" He pointed toward the computer console. "Is there any way you could hack into the mainframe and get Naminé and Kairi out of there?"

"What?" Pence was completely lost. "Wait, slow down. What are you taking about?"

Roxas quickly relayed what happened, causing Pence's face to become more and more solemn. Finally, the boy heard enough. "I'll see what I can do." The duo quickly made their way up to the computer console. Pence took one look at the panel and cracked his knuckles. "If this is just like Ansem's computer, this shouldn't take too long." His fingers were a blur as he touch typed keys faster than Roxas had ever seen before. Unfortunately, after a few minutes, it became clear that he wasn't up to the task.

"What happened?" Roxas asked. Pence stopped typing and stared intently at the screen.

"I can't get past these firewalls without the passwords."

"Passwords?" Roxas repeated.

"It's asking for the original names of Ansem the Wise's disciples." Pence shook his head. "Unless we know that, there's nothing more I can do."

Roxas facepalmed himself. "I should actually know this, but I can't remember!"

"Do you require some assistance?" Pence and Roxas jumped at Tron's voice behind them. While they were focused on their task, the security program and Riku had finished tending to the wounded and noticed the aura of frustration emanating from the two.

Roxas blinked at Tron thoughtfully. "You were a program in Ansem's computer, right?" Tron nodded. "That would mean you would know the names of his disciples." As Tron nodded again, Roxas chanced a glance at Pence who gave him a knowing look.

"Just what the doctor ordered," Pence chuckled.

* * *

As the light faded, Kairi opened her eyes to find herself in some eerie-looking dimension. Scanning her surroundings, she saw that she was standing on a solitary piece of earth with only a tall neon-lighted building towering over her.

"No!" Her heart was feeling heavier than usual. "I can't believe it was really them." After being alone for so long, Kairi had been ecstatic to see familiar, friendly faces again. But to be torn away abruptly like that...Kairi was almost in tears. She sank to her knees with her face in her hands, feeling lower than she had ever felt in her life. "It was really them..." She began pounding the ground with her fist.

Naminé felt bad for her._ "Kairi..."_

"How could I have been so stupid?" Kairi sobbed. "If only I had just waited for a few more seconds, we'd finally be together again!"

_"Come on, Kairi,"_ Naminé said gently. _"Beating yourself up isn't going to help us out of this mess."_

Kairi quietly sniffed. "But they were right there..."

_"Listen, I'm as upset as you are. But instead of beating yourself up, you should focus on beating up the person who started all of this,"_ Naminé advised.

Kairi stopped crying. Her sorrow began transforming into rage. "Xemnas," she muttered.

_"Right. Keep your emotions in check, girlfriend. We need to focus on the problem at hand."_ Naminé would've hugged Kairi if she had a body._ "We've got a job to finish. Everything else can wait."_

Kairi nodded in agreement. She used the Keyblade to help herself to her feet. "Xemnas!" she called out, surprising Naminé. "Show yourself!"

_"W-wait a moment, Kairi! I said keep your emotions in check!"_ Naminé said unnervingly.

The data streams appeared in front of them, forming the leader of Organization XIII. Xemnas took one look at Kairi and bowed. "You called?"

"You..." Kairi's eyes narrowed as she pointed the Keyblade at him. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Princess..." Xemnas spread his arms out, his cloak fluttering behind him. "You are asking the wrong question."

"What?" Kairi blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Instead of asking "Why?" you should be asking "What?" What do we have to gain from all of this?" Kairi's Keyblade dropped a few inches. "Sora and Riku have defeated my Organization. Our minds are trapped within this pale imitation of life, forever forced to fight all that challenge us." His lips curled into a sneer. "So what you should be asking, my dear Princess, is 'What purpose would we need you for?'"

"And Naminé..." Kairi felt Naminé stiffen at the sound of her name. "We have already proven we can sever your link between you and your host. So why would we leave you free to interfere?"

Both of the girls couldn't think of any counter-arguments to his statements. "You should thank us for the gifts that we've given you," Xemnas continued. "Your heart spurned jealousy and frustration for being unable to help your friends. All because you weren't a chosen one of the Keyblade." Kairi's eyes automatically focused down on the Keyblade. "So we downloaded samples of Sora's memories into you. The spells you've learned, they were all once Sora's. But once that fool Marluxia betrayed us," Xemnas added bitterly, "all that remained of his abilities were stored into this solitary database."

"That explains all of those memories of Sora that I've been experiencing," Kairi said. "But what was the point of making me stronger?"

_"Don't be so naive, Kairi,"_ Naminé grumbled. _"They probably did this so they could train you to be their pawn."_

"If that were only true," Xemnas said. Naminé was taken back by his reply. "Yes, I can hear you. You are still a Nobody after all. But you couldn't be more wrong. Kairi is a Princess of Light who would never turn to the darkness. Even we understand that."

"Then what?" Kairi asked. "What was the whole point?" Instead of answering, Xemnas gave them an evil grin which only succeeded in ticking the girls off.

_"Enough, Xehanort,"_ Naminé said. _"You're the only one standing between us and our friends."_

Kairi nodded. "And if we have to take you down..." She swiped the Keyblade for emphasis. "...then so be it."

Xemnas let out a hollow chuckle. "When I'm through with you, you'll have to take a shower to wash away the smell of defeat," Xemnas said, "and I won't be watching you do it."

"Defeat?" Kairi repeated. "Don't you mean you're going to try to kill me?" Then she did a double take. "Wait. Why would you be watching me?"

Xemnas shrugged. "I just wanted you to make sure that I wouldn't be."

She raised an eyebrow. "But I never thought..."

"Good. Because I won't."

"Why would I think..." Kairi began, but then stopped herself. "Oh, that's right. This is the Organization we're talking about." She rolled her eyes. "Bunch of perverts," she muttered as she got into her battle stance.


	31. Kairi vs the Superior

"Okay! Anything I should know about this guy?" Kairi asked. As Naminé racked her brain for an answer, Xemnas shrouded himself within a cloud of darkness that began to close in toward her. "What the..."

_"I...I..."_ Naminé stammered. _"I don't know! I've never actually seen him fight! He's always been ordering the other members to fight for him!"_

The cloud suddenly halted a few feet from her position. Kairi squinted into the darkness for a telltale of what to expect. Surprisingly, instead of attacking, Xemnas reappeared staring holes through her as long, red beams of energy jutted out of his hands.

"Light sabers?!" Kairi cried. "You've got light sabers?!"

"They are called "Ethereal Blades," Xemnas corrected.

_"Ethereal Blades?"_ Naminé repeated. _"What kinda stupid name is that?"_

"This from a girl whose name does not even match her other half," Xemnas retorted.

"Like you should talk, MANSEX," Kairi snapped back. Xemnas froze.

"What did you call me, you insolent child?" he growled.

"What? Does the truth hurt?" Kairi giggled. "Cut the acting, your Royal Gayness. You probably sent Marluxia to Castle Oblivion so he wouldn't get jealous when you would got all hot and heavy with Saix!"

_"You know I was always wondering about that!"_ Naminé laughed. _"After their meetings, Saix always spent a few minutes afterwards to stay behind. I mean, that makes total sense!"_

"So, you want to talk orientation, do you?" Xemnas snapped. "In that case, can you trust Sora and Riku alone? Or Roxas and Axel?"

Kairi's jaw dropped. "Is he getting into a yaoi rant with us?"

"In fact, I have heard that you two girls have managed to..."

_"Shut up!"_ Naminé interrupted. _"Yaoi is one thing, but yuri's going too far!"_

"So be it," came the curt reply. And with that, Xemnas charged at them with his blades held high. Kairi ran back at him with reciprocated ferocity.

Xemnas swung his left blade in a wide arc with vengeful force. Fortunately, Kairi was able to duck low to the ground, the saber whizzing harmlessly over her. The coiled muscles in her legs built up kinetic energy and with a quick snap of her legs, the Princess pushed off from the ground and sliced the Keyblade in an upward arc, striking Xemnas squarely underneath the chin. His head snapped back as if Kairi laid a powerful uppercut to the head.

Kairi tried to continue her assault, but although Xemnas was reeling, his sabers were still swinging around wildly, forcing her to keep her distance. With Xemnas stunned, she took a moment to think. "Okay, let's review, shall we? We're up against a guy who takes lessons from some Darth dork." The redhead cricked her neck slightly. "Seriously, he couldn't get a better weapon?"

_"We've gone against a DBZ rip-off, a Guitar Hero, a werewolf, an emo, a surfing pirate, a poker head, a dominatrix, three gay guys, a tickle fetish pedophile and my fiancée...and THIS surprises you?"_

Kairi pursed her lips in thought. "Good point."

_"Too bad we can't steal his weapons like we did with Roxas, Marluxia or Xaldin,"_ Naminé said. _"They look like they're physically attached to his hands,"_ Naminé said.

"I don't know what's worse," Kairi lamented. "The fact that we're fighting someone that could be the butt of every Star Wars joke in history or the fact that nothing perverted has happened to us yet."

_"What about those fights against Larxene, Luxord or Saix?" _Naminé asked._ "Nothing perverted happe...Heads up!"_ Kairi snapped out of her stupor just in time to see Xemnas rushing forward with his arms swinging. She managed to raise the Keyblade to block his first strike, but the other saber was able to slam into her exposed side, electrocuting her nerve endings. Her body was unable to respond to her commands as Xemnas spun around her like a gravity defying top, slashing and slicing her from every side. Finally, he stopped his assault and retreated a few feet from her.

Kairi was surprised when she noticed that other than the first hit, there was no damage on her body whatsoever. "What the..." The next moment, Kairi looked down in horror as the fabric just below her chest unraveled neatly onto the ground into a giant coil of ribbon around her feet, revealing her midriff and a pair of white cotton panties. "EEEEK!" Her face blushed a deep crimson as she immediately leapt out of the scrapped remains of her dress, the Keyblade raised over her head. "You pervert!"

Fortunately, Kairi was left with some of her dignity intact as the straps of her undershirt were undamaged, leaving barely enough fabric to conceal what needed to be covered. Unfortunately for her, Xemnas was grinning as if he expected her reaction. He quickly raised his hand.

**"GUARD!"** A giant wall of light popped up in front of her path. Unable to change her trajectory, she was forced to collide with the energy charged wall. Kairi flinched as the shock of the barrier sent her reeling back a few feet. Before she could recover, the wall of light faded allowing Xemnas' saber to slam into her, electrocuting her entire body with dark energy. Kairi collapsed to her knees, setting herself up for a powerful kick that sent her flying.

_"Kairi!"_ Naminé yelled.

As Kairi's body lay sprawled out on the ground, Xemnas could only chortle. "Maybe I was wrong about you." Kairi began to get up, but froze as Xemnas pointed one of the sabers at her neck. "I would have thought that after all your previous encounters with my Organization that you would have at least put up a decent fight."

"Why don't you try fighting in your underwear and we'll see how you look!" Kairi snarled back weakly.

"I will admit that I took no pleasure in shredding your outfit. I do not have a heart after all."

_"Riiiight,"_ Naminé said. _"Your blades just happen to tear into our clothing instead of our skin like its supposed to. You may not have a heart, but I'm guessing you have a dirty mind with a..."sword" to match."_

"Even so," Xemnas continued, "I must commend you for fighting your way up to me. You have shown that your endurance and skill might even be greater than Sora or Riku."

_"Doesn't this guy ever shut up?"_ Kairi thought as she felt her strength return.

"However, perhaps it is time you went to sleep..." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "...permanently." While he kept the saber trained on his target, Xemnas raised his other weapon for the finishing blow. But Kairi was able to get her second wind and eager to continue.

"It's not over yet!" As the weapon came hurtling down on her, Kairi swiped her Keyblade sideways knocking his outstretched arm into the other's path, forcing his body to twist awkwardly. As he spun around, she tucked her knees in and slammed both feet into his back, sending him out of attack range.

She hastily got to her feet and brushed some stray hair out of her face. "Naminé, you ready?"

_"Yeah! So what if we don't have any pants..."_ Naminé stopped herself. _"That didn't sound too weird."_

"Especially since we never wore pants to begin with," Kairi murmured.

Xemnas chuckled lightly as he turned back to face her. "That's right. Let your rage consume you..." he muttered almost inaudibly.

"This feels SO wrong," Kairi said as she stood there shivering slightly in her underwear. "What am I, fanservice?"

* * *

Tron and Pence were still trying to hack into the computer when Pence suddenly yelled out, "Hey, I found something!"

The kids stopped immediately what they were doing and ran up to the console. "What's up, Pence?" Hayner asked.

Pence pointed at one of the monitors. "We found some data recordings that were just taken a few hours ago. They might be able to tell us what's been going on."

The group peered closer and were astonished to see playbacks of every fight that Kairi and Naminé had done. "Is that...Kairi?" Roxas couldn't believe his eyes when Kairi switched with Naminé. "And Naminé?!"

"Looks like you weren't the only one who could switch," Riku said, slapping Roxas on the back.

"Who's that blonde girl?" Hayner asked with a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"My girlfriend," Roxas replied sharply. As he saw Naminé smother his Data form's head with her butt, he rubbed his face in disbelief. "I was wondering why I felt so dirty..."

_"And you were complaining you were never going to get any face time with Naminé,"_ Sora chuckled. Roxas rolled his eyes in response.

The fights began flashing through the highlights of Kairi and Naminé's battles. The group could only stare in awe at the members of Organization XIII were taken out one by one. "Who's the gay guy wielding the scythe?" Olette asked. Before anyone could reply, the Marluxia on the screen shouted "For the millionth time, I AM NOT GAY!"

Riku gave her a big smirk. "That answer your question?"

"Ouch," Roxas said cringing as he saw Kairi beating the crap out of Demyx. "Poor Demy never had a chance."

"I still can't believe that she's been able to catch up with us in terms of battle," Selphie said. "I mean, her technique is a bit shaky, but the rate at which she improves is surprisingly fast."

Riku scratched his chin thoughtfully when the screen started displaying Kairi's magic. "I don't remember teaching her those spells." He glanced at Roxas. "Did you?"

Roxas shook his head. "We never had time to. The wedding got in the way." He looked at Kairi and Naminé's performance intently. "Although that "Dodge Flip" of hers is pretty impressive."

When Zexion's fight showed, the group stared in awe. "Did she just kick Sora and Riku's butt?" Hayner gasped in astonishment.

Selphie and Olette high-fived each other. "Oh yeah! Girls rule!" The guys grumbled unutterable comments.

"Wait, what is that Heartless doing to her?" Wakka was indicating Kairi's fight with Anti-Sora. After a few seconds, it became painfully obvious.

"Oh my gawd! Sora's a pervert!" Tidus exclaimed.

_"I am not!"_ Sora snapped. Of course, no one heard him except Roxas and Riku.

Eventually the recording reached the segment where Vexen placed Kairi into bondage and began to tickle torture her mercilessly.

"That...is disturbing," Olette commented.

_"I never knew Kairi was ticklish on her hips,"_ Sora said in the corner of his mind._ "And the way her body's gyrating seem almost enticing somehow."_

"Sora says he's enjoying this," Roxas told the others to Sora's chagrin.

"I know I am," Tidus said with a grin. "It's like watching uncensored Japanese anime!" Wakka and Selphie both whacked him across the back of his head.

"Come on!" Riku huffed impatiently. "As edutaining as this is, we're wasting time. Is there any way to see what's going on inside right now?" After Pence pressed a few keys, the main screen finally showed exactly what was happening inside Xemnas' cove. The group stared in stunned disbelief.

Roxas' eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Is Kairi fighting in her underwear or is that a new Drive form she's got?"

Suddenly, the yellow cove flickered back to its blue aura. "Alright!" Pence pumped his fist. "We managed to open the door!"

"Sweet!" Hayner started for the ramp, but Roxas and Riku managed to leap up onto the ledge before he took two steps. The Keybearers didn't hesitate in reaching for Xemnas' symbol.

"No!" Tron cried. "Not both at once!" But it was already too late. Roxas and Riku touched the symbol at the same time, causing an explosion of light to envelop their bodies before they disappeared from sight. Sparks fizzled out of Xemnas' cove before it changed back to its yellow occupied state.

"Pence! Tron!" Hayner yelled. "What's going on?!" The computer duo quickly typed as fast as they could, but there was no effect.

"It seems the system can only hold a maximum of three occupants at once. As soon as that limit was reached, the system went into an automatic lock-down." Pence slammed his fist into the keyboard. "There's nothing more we can do except wait for them to finish."

"Can we still see where they headed?" Selphie asked.

"That...is possible," Tron said as he turned back to the console. As they began working on surveillance, Tidus was still entranced at the Kairi/Vexen predicament.

"Do you think you can burn copies of this?" Tidus asked.

Pence looked at him questionably. "What for?"

"Well..." Tidus took the hilt of his sword and absent-mindedly scratched the back of his head with it. "I never got a wedding present for Sora. I figured he could use these somehow."

"Such as?"

Tidus shrugged. "He could probably make more copies of it and sell it online," he suggested. "I know there's a few guys out there that would love seeing a girl in bondage."

Selphie snagged him painfully by the ear and started dragging him away from the monitors. "Only you would come up with something wrong like that," she growled. "Maybe I should take my weapon and tie YOU up..."

* * *

"If I find out Nomura's the mastermind behind all of this, I'm gonna slug him," Kairi grumbled.

_"Shhh!"_ Naminé shushed. _"He might hear you!"_

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Oh, what's he going to do to us that we haven't already been put through?"

_"He could always kill us off and give Sora a new girlfriend,"_ Naminé suggested.

Kairi cringed at the thought. "Thanks for sharing that happy possibility, Naminé."

_"That's what I'm here for,"_ Naminé giggled.

As Xemnas covered himself with darkness again, the sky immediately began to darken.

Kairi braced herself. "I don't like the looks of this..." Xemnas burst out of the darkness with his sabers drawn and his arms swinging.

_"He's gonna strip us again!"_ Naminé cried fearfully.

"Like hell!" Kairi hugged the Keyblade close to her chest. "I'm not going to be fighting him naked!" As Xemnas began his desperation move, Kairi shouted **"FIRE!"** Xemnas' saber was only inches away from her chest when giant fireballs burst out of the Keyblade, incinerating Xemnas outstretched hand. The sky immediately brightened to its original state as Xemnas grunted in pain. He clutched his damaged arm with his good hand and glared at Kairi through the encircling flames. Xemnas shrouded himself in darkness once again, quickly transporting himself behind her.

Kairi whipped around to face him, but Xemnas raised his hand and shouted _"Nusquam Aeternus Eternus!"_ Instantly, three eerie-looking crystals appeared around Kairi, encasing her in a sphere of mesh. Before Kairi could strike back, the Organization leader retreated back into the darkness. She immediately felt her strength start to fade. "Come closer," Xemnas' haunting voice rang throughout the arena.

"Where'd he go?" Kairi was astonished that her voice seemed to be fading away as well. She quickly scanned the battlefield for any trace of her opponent. "Get back out here and fight, you coward!"

_"Kairi! He's up on top of the building!"_ Naminé's voice pointed out. The Princess turned her gaze upward and sure enough, Xemnas was watching her intently from the rooftop.

Kairi let out a grunt of frustration. "How in the world am I supposed to get him up there?!"

_"We've got something more serious to worry about,"_ Naminé said. _"Our energy levels are declining rapidly in here. We've got to break free of these crystals!"_

Kairi didn't know why, but Axel's words came to mind. _"Never lose sight of your light in the darkness,"_ she quoted as she looked at the building. "Light...light...neon lights..." She started running up to the building. "These crystals are made of darkness, right? So..." As soon as she was at the top of the steps, the crystals began to tremble from the building's aura. "I knew it! The light's weakening them!"

Kairi made a gripping motion from the center of the mesh sphere and pulled as if breaking free from a cocoon. The crystals surrounding her shattered, leaving her a strange feeling of lightness in her body. Kairi looked down at her feet and gasped as the ground beneath her seemed to inch away slightly. It was as if gravity's pull had weakened its hold on her. _"It must be a side effect from those crystals!"_ Naminé cried as Kairi's body hovered slightly. _"Get up that building before it wears off!"_

Kairi responded with a grin. "Don't have to tell me twice!" She grabbed the overhang of the building with one hand and launched herself skyward towards Xemnas. As soon as she started hurtling up, Xemnas summoned his Ethereal Blades again and in a kamikaze maneuver, dove from the roof of the building. Rocketing upward, Kairi held the Keyblade straight behind her like a tail as Naminé focused their internal energy, letting loose a stream of red heart-shaped bubbles from the Keyblade's tip.

The dueling duo seemed to move toward each other in slow motion, the TV screen glowing mysteriously beneath their feet. As soon as he was in range, Xemnas brought down both sabers at once at breakneck speed. Fortunately, Kairi was well-prepared this time and managed to block it. Before Xemnas could turn around, Kairi got behind him and slammed her Keyblade into his side, flipping him on his back. As he began to fall backwards, the girl tucked her arms and legs in and dove at Xemnas like a human torpedo. The Nobody grinned slightly as he brought his arms back for another attack. And that's when Kairi did the unexpected. She flipped her body around and dropped into a ground pound. Her butt smashed against his face, taking Xemnas by surprise. For the first time in her life, Kairi wasn't thinking about modesty as she locked her legs around his head, smothering his face, effectively blinding him. All thoughts of fighting flitted from his mind as he struggled to get his face out of her crotch. Kairi quickly leaned back, grabbed his legs and held on for dear life.

Their combined mass splashed through the cloud of innocent-looking bubbles, causing massive explosions that shook the air. The tiny booms ripped numerous cuts and tears into Xemnas' back and Kairi's exposed legs, but she held on nonetheless. The adversaries hit the ground with a thunderous crash, the concrete underneath cracking from the impact. Due to using Xemnas as a cushion, Kairi was mostly unharmed. However, she could hear the sickening crackling of bones shifting underneath her. _"That had to smart,"_ Naminé commented.

Kairi released her grip around Xemnas' head, stood up and brushed herself off. "At least it was someone else's clothes that were getting ripped up for once."

Naminé felt slightly uneasy, though. _"THIS was the head of the Organization? For someone who's supposed to be scary and powerful, this guy was pretty much a big wuss."_

And that's when Xemnas sat up. Kairi tightened her grip on the Keyblade apprehensively. "So...it seems I underestimated you, Princess." He began to rise to his feet.

Naminé gasped. _"Even after a fall like that, he's still able to stand?"_

Xemnas stood up straight and tall, towering over the poor girl. "I will not allow it to end this way...not yet."

"What now?" Kairi gritted her teeth.

He took a deep, graceful bow as if he had just performed a musical encore. "Now we fight for real."

_"I knew it seemed a bit too easy,"_ Naminé muttered.

Xemnas raised his hands and his eyes to the heavens as his body disintegrated into data streams, leaving the girls quite alone. The very next instant, cascades of light burst out of the ground, enveloping the battlefield. Kairi instinctively raised an arm to shield her eyes from the intense brightness. When she opened her eyes again, the Princess found herself in a whitish-gray dimension. Her surroundings were constantly shifting and moving, unable to stay still. The patterns hurt Kairi's eyes, forcing her to blink a few times. "What happened, Naminé? Where are we?"

_"I don't know, but..."_ Naminé's voice trailed off.

"I take by your astonishment that we're no longer in familiar territory," Kairi said.

_"We were never in familiar territory to begin with, Kairi."_

And then they saw him. Their opponent no longer had the pure black cloak of darkness, but a white and black pattern that seemed to swirl around with his movements. Although the area was fairly bright, the girls could almost sense the overwhelming energy of nothingness seep from him. Electricity crackled from his hands as if barely restrained energy was bursting to get out.

"Oh sh..." Before Kairi could react, Xemnas suddenly appeared in front of her, lifted her up using his Thorn Beams and flung her skyward like a rag doll.

Kairi flailed about helplessly as Xemnas rapidly teleported around her, slashing his Ethereal Blades wherever they could reach. She could only scream in pain as the weapons' contact with her exposed skin burned the surface. Xemnas' leg shot out, knocking the Keyblade out of her hand, effectively disarming her. When it seemed that she couldn't take any more punishment, he grabbed Kairi by the wrinkled remains of her fabric (her chest being slightly exposed) and threw her body back to earth with incredible strength.

_"Kairi!"_ Naminé yelled helplessly. As Kairi's charred body smashed into the ground like a meteor, Xemnas chuckled again.

"Foolish girl. Did you really believe that you could defeat me?" She made a weak attempt to push herself up, but her arms gave away underneath her weight. Xemnas teleported next to her and yanked Kairi up by the neck with one hand. With no Keyblade to protect her and her entire body screaming in agonizing pain, she was completely vulnerable and helpless. He stared into those piercing blue eyes of hers. Xemnas looked at her curiously.

"It seems you still have some fight left in you, Princess," he said, indicating the weak fire in her eyes.

Kairi's vision was swimming with overwhelming tiredness. At that very moment, all she could think about was Sora. "...won't...give up..." was her reply. Her limbs trembled slightly as she made a weak attempt to shake out of his grasp, but to no avail.

Naminé didn't know what to do. She couldn't switch with Kairi in fear of draining the remains of the minimal energy their body had left. Xemnas shook his head as he summoned his Ethereal Blade with his free hand. "Why don't you vanish..." he whispered. He pulled back the Blade, stabbing intent on his face. Kairi closed her eyes and braced herself...

**"BACK OFF!"** Kairi's eyes snapped open at the familiar sounding voice.

_"Sora...?"_ was her first thought. Xemnas whipped around and was met with a faceful of Dark Aura. He immediately dropped his victim, the burning sensation stinging his eyes.

"I knew something reeked of darkness here." Riku blew the smoke off the tip of his Keyblade.

While Xemnas was stunned, Roxas quickly raised his Keyblade. **"HEAL!"** Gentle bells chimed over her body as Kairi felt strength flow back into her. She interlocked her fingers, raised her arms over her head and went into a pleasurable stretch, feeling her spine pop back into alignment. It was as if she had just woken up from a refreshing power nap. Riku quickly tossed back her Keyblade which she caught easily with one hand. She was grateful, but the sight of her friends pushed everything else going on out of her mind.

"Roxas! Riku!" Kairi ran up to them with open arms, crystal tears streaming from her eyes.

"Kairi!" They met her with a crunching hug before doing a double take. Roxas slapped his hand over his eyes, while Riku gave Kairi a troubled look. "Nice panties." Kairi blushed again as she squirmed uncomfortably in her exposed undies. The awkwardness of the moment was cut short as a giant black fist smashed the ground between them, causing a shockwave that knocked the trio away from each other. As Kairi picked herself up from the ground, she suddenly realized what had just attacked them. Riku stared in disbelief. "No. That's not possible..." The fist receded back to its owner, the Heartless known as Ansem.

"Xehanort's Heartless?!" Roxas yelled in surprise.

"How soon you forget. This is my world," Xemnas ranted. "Three against one would be unfair." Xemnas floated up beside his Heartless self. Roxas, Riku and Kairi braced themselves. "This would even the odds wouldn't you say?"


	32. Choices & Backup

"Are we really going to have to fight like this?" Kairi muttered as the trio stared down the two beings of darkness hovering in front of them.

"Nothing about this fight seems fair," Riku replied.

Kairi rapidly shook her head. "No. I mean, I'm the only one undressed!" Roxas and Riku tried to avoid looking at her.

"Not that Sora doesn't mind," Roxas said to Sora's chagrin, "but why don't you just switch to Naminé already? I healed you back to full strength after all."

Kairi mentally slapped herself. "Oh, right." As she switched with Naminé, it came as a relief to feel fresh, new cloth form itself over her naked skin. Naminé took one look at herself and was glad to see her outfit in one piece.

_"That's much better,"_ Kairi sighed.

_"I don't understand you two sometimes,"_ Sora said. _"Your dresses are pretty short already. If you don't want anyone seeing what's underneath, maybe you should consider wearing pants."_

"And maybe you should quit staring at our chest!" Naminé snapped. "Don't think we don't notice you trying to undress us with your eyes!"

"What?!" Roxas and Sora were confused by the outburst. "Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Roxas asked.

_"Typical guys,"_ Kairi said. _"You can't trust them anymore. I used to think you two were all chivalrous gentlemen, but after what we've been through..."_ The girls didn't know why, but despite being glad to see them, there were feelings of anger and embarrassment rushing through their system.

Naminé sighed. "The stripping and the groping that's been going on..."

_"Roxas' face in a place where it shouldn't be..."_ Kairi continued.

"Sora's hands squeezing in really awkward places..." Naminé added.

"Wait a minute..." Roxas couldn't believe his ears. "Are you accusing us of being perverts?"

"Well, maybe not you, Roxas," Naminé amended quickly. "Sora, however..."

_"Don't defend Roxas!"_ Kairi scoffed. _"He's as much of a peeper as Sora is!"_

_"I don't get it..."_ Sora was completely confused by the suddenly rash behavior. _"This isn't because of what my Anti-Form did to you, is it?"_

Naminé's eyes grew wide. "What...How'd you..."

_"All your fights were being recorded,"_ Sora explained. _"We saw everything that's happened to you."_

Kairi felt like shrinking away into the shadows. _"You mean...you saw..."_

"...everything?" Naminé finished.

Roxas nodded. "Your fight with me, Axel..."

_"Vexen,"_ Sora added casually.

Naminé's face reddened. "So..."

"HEY!" The group immediately stopped talking as Riku stared at them in disbelief. "You four can argue about your relationship problems later! In case you forgot, we're in the middle of a fight for our lives!"

"How is it that we were beaten by these kids again?" Xehanort's Heartless muttered to his Nobody self.

Xemnas shook his head. "It seems that would be the mystery..."

"Anyway..." Riku pointed his Keyblade at Ansem. "How is this possible?!" he shouted. "You're no longer a part of me!"

Xehanort's Heartless stared at Riku with grim intent in his eyes. "Foolish boy. I am always a part of you. You wield the darkness after all." He grinned evilly. "MY darkness."

"I've conquered you before!" Riku swiped his Keyblade dramatically. "And I'll conquer you again!"

"Riku!" Naminé's eyes narrowed. "That can't be the real Ansem!"

"How can you be so sure?" Roxas asked. But it was Xemnas who answered.

"Do you remember where you are? You are in my computer after all." His hands sparkled with electricity, his fingers itching to fight. "Yes, my Heartless had faded from the light. But I anticipated your friends' interference."

"Your precious Princess of Heart was taken from you," Ansem said. "It was obvious that your hearts would lead you here."

_"Xemnas...knew?"_ Sora wondered.

"So, he's nothing more than a security program?" Riku clarified.

"Which would not have activated if you had not decided to hack my computer," Xemnas stated simply. Riku and Roxas looked at each other, seemingly disgusted with themselves. "So, number XIII," he continued. "You dare show your face in my presence?"

"After all this time," Roxas shook his head, "I never thought I'd be standing in front of you again."

"If you had not betrayed the Organization, we would have finally regained our hearts!"

"It was a lost cause, Superior!" Roxas snapped. "The moment you decided to eliminate me was when your entire plan fell apart!"

"If it were not for that senile old fool and that traitor, our Kingdom Hearts would have..."

"Blitz!" Roxas ran at Xemnas in mid-rant, Oblivion and Oathkeeper at the ready. He was only able to take three steps before Xemnas suddenly vanished from view. Roxas screeched to a halt. "Where'd..." Immediately, Xemnas reappeared directly behind him, catching Roxas off guard. Electricity ran through Xemnas' fingers as he blasted Roxas with the power of nothingness, encasing him within an mesh-like energy sphere.

"Roxas!" Riku started for Xemnas, but his path was barred by Xehanort's Heartless. Before he could react, Riku found his arms pinned to his sides as the Heartless wrapped its enormous claws around his body, lifting him off his feet. He could feel the vice-like grip begin to crush the air from his lungs.

Naminé stood frozen in indecision.

_"Naminé!"_ Kairi cried. _"Riku's in trouble!"_

"I know!" Naminé responded. "But so is Roxas!"

"Make your choice," Xemnas said with no hint of remorse. "Your friend from the twilight..." Roxas was suspended helplessly within the energy trap.

"...or your friend from the dawn," Ansem finished as Riku struggled to free himself from the Heartless' grip.

Naminé gritted her teeth as she stared daggers into Xemnas, who only smiled with evil intent. "Now choose."

* * *

Chip, Dale and Pluto finally made their way back to the safe room. Fortunately, all of the Heartless and Nobodies seemed to have congregated at the mineshaft, leaving the path free and clear of danger.

"Oh! You're back!" Queen Minnie ran up to the trio as Chip and Dale jumped off of Pluto's head.

"What happened?" Lady Daisy asked. "Is everyone alright?" Wasting no time, the chipmunks quickly relayed the King's instructions causing the Princesses and summons to gasp. "Such a bold move, even from the King!"

Queen Minnie gave her an incredulous look. "You know how King Mickey is. Once he has an idea, it's impossible to stop him."

"But still..." Alice furrowed an eyebrow. "His Majesty requested us specifically?"

Dale nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! All the Princesses of Heart are to help out with this plan."

Belle jumped to her feet. "Well, it's about time! I was getting bored from waiting around all day!"

"Me too!" Jasmine agreed. "After all the times Sora and his friends helped us out, we should finally return the favor!"

"But is his Majesty certain that we'll be needed?" Cinderella asked.

Lady Daisy shook her head. "Cindy, you know the King wouldn't ask for help unless he truly needed it."

"He seemed pretty tense about the whole thing," Dale said.

"Also, he wouldn't have asked if he didn't believe that you weren't capable of handling the situation," Chip added.

"But what about us?" Chicken Little piped in. "You're not going to just leave us here, are you?" The little band of summons looked at the ladies with wide puppy-dog eyes.

The Queen smiled warmly. "If I may say so, it'd be difficult to do your jobs of protecting us if you didn't come along." The summons were pleased by the comment.

Stitch in particular laughed. "Cowabunga!" he cackled as his other four arms popped out of his body with each hand wielding a blaster.

"A little cosmic razzle dazzle never hurt, right?!" Genie added, his fingers sparking.

"Let's help everyone." The entire group stopped and turned toward the source of the innocent-sounding voice. Bambi only smiled and said, "Hi!" Everyone stared at the young deer in astonishment.

"Bambi can talk?!" Snow White gasped.

Genie scratched his beard. "That's the first I've heard of it..." He summoned a pair of giant spectacles and started rubbing it vigorously. "...and I usually know this type of stuff."

"Anyway, it's settled!" Queen Minnie looked out the window toward the horizon. "This time, WE'LL fight."


	33. The Final Battle?

Naminé had a choice to make. To her left was Xemnas who had Roxas trapped within his energy sphere, draining away any strength he had to fight. To her right was Xehanort's Heartless who had his guardian grasping Riku with its evil-looking claws. Which should she choose?

"As much as I hate to admit it," she muttered, "Riku probably knows more about these guys than Roxas does." Her sweaty palms tightened their grip on the Keyblade. "I'm going to help Riku."

_"Don't sing it, just bring it!"_ Kairi shouted. With a warrior's cry erupting from her throat, Naminé charged at Xehanort's Heartless. She was only a few feet from her target when the Heartless guardian raised Riku over its head.

Naminé skidded to a halt. "He wouldn't..." But he did. She could only watch helplessly as Riku's body was flung across the arena like a discarded paper bag.

_"No! Riku!"_ Kairi cried. Their heart literally stopped as the Dawn wielder crashed into the ground with a bone-crunching thump. Kairi couldn't believe what she was seeing. _"Riku..."_ Tears began to well up in Naminé's eyes.

The memory witch whirled around at Ansem. "You're going to pay for that!" With an unimaginable rush of adrenaline bursting through her veins, she streaked toward her opponent as blonde hair and tears streamed behind her. All she could think about was how much more suffering these people had caused their friends and what had to be done. "Wait..." Naminé did a double take. Xehanort's Heartless hovered serenely with his arms crossed, apparently alone. "Where'd Ansem's guardian disappear to?" As soon as the words left her lips, Naminé felt a cold, icy claw grasp each of her bare arms, restraining her from attacking. She looked up and was horrified to see Ansem's Heartless was now looming over her; its sole purpose in its pathetic existence was to immobilize her. She hung suspended in the air like a makeshift crucifix.

"Come open your heart!" A cage of light surrounded Ansem as he began to float closer, flexing his fingers as if getting them warmed up. Naminé took one look at his gloved hands and the horrid memories of Vexen and Castle Oblivion began to flood her mind. The endless days of torture, the titillation, the nonstop laughter, and her utter helplessness to prevent it.

"N-n-n-n..." Anger was immediately washed away with an overwhelming sense of fear. Panicking, she yanked her arms in as hard as she could, but the Heartless' grip was rock solid. "He's going to tickle me! I know that sadistic look in his eyes!" she screamed silently.

_"Naminé! Get a grip!"_ Kairi shouted reasonably. _"He's not gonna..."_

"Do you see his hands?! It's going to be Vexen all over again! The 'experimenting' using his fingers to probe and crawl all over my body!" Naminé's breath was becoming shallower and her heart was beating faster. She could feel a slight tingling along the nerve endings of her upper body as she imagined what was about to happen. "Oh, why did I have to be cursed with being so ticklish?!" she sobbed.

_"NAMINÉ!"_ Kairi yelled even louder. _"Focus, girl! Don't freak out on me!"_ Ansem was now within a few feet from the bounded girl. Naminé squirmed as best as she could, but the restraints were stuck tight. Finally, she couldn't take any more anticipation.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Naminé screamed. She wildly shot her legs out, kicking for all its worth. In her sheer panic, she managed to connect with Ansem's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. While he was doubled over, Naminé managed to land a solid leg combo to his head, forcing the Heartless that binded her to release its grip. She landed unceremoniously on her butt, her arms wrapped around her trembling body.

Kairi knew exactly how Naminé felt, so it was with a gentle tone that she asked _"Naminé? Are you okay?"_

Naminé let out a loud sniff. "I...I thought it was behind me." A wry smile appeared on her lips. "I guess there are still some fears that can't be overcome so easily..."

_"You know he wasn't going to tickle you, right?"_ Kairi asked. _"With that cage of light, he was probably going to..."_

"...strip me?" Naminé suggested in a weak, sardonic tone.

_"Actually, I was going to say electrocute you,"_ Kairi clarified, _"but I guess that's possible too."_

Meanwhile, Roxas could feel his strength fading fast. "I guess it would be too much to pray for a miracle right about now," Roxas groaned.

Although winded, Riku was still able to stand upright and rush to Roxas' rescue. Just like before, the Dawn Wielder ran up to Xemnas, leapt up and stabbed at his opponent's face, forcing the Superior to turn sideways, weakening his hold. With his free hand, Riku palmed the other gloved hand, breaking the circuit that held Roxas captive. "Here I cooooome to save the daaaaaay!" He slammed the handle into Xemnas' chin, grabbed his arm, twirled him around and threw Xemnas into the distance.

Roxas staggered up to his feet and looked at Riku oddly. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Riku?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Give me a break. I try out one different catch-phrase and you're suddenly listening to me."

_"But, come on! 'Mighty Mouse?'"_ Sora felt like facepalming himself. _"When were you born again? The eighties?"_

"Not to mention that quote wasn't even Disney related," Roxas added. Suddenly, Roxas' Keyblades began to glow, causing him to almost drop them. "What..." The Oblivion and Oathkeeper faded into light, replacing themselves with two new Keyblades that Sora had never seen before.

_"What in the...How'd you get new Keyblades?"_ Sora asked in shock.

Roxas grinned. "Say hello to my upgraded weaponry: Winner's Proof and Two Become One!"

_"'Two Become One?'"_ Sora repeated skeptically.

"Would you have preferred 'Serendipitous Duo?'" Roxas replied. Sora only responded with awkward silence. "How about 'Destiny Two?'" Roxas amended. More silence. "'Fateful Encounter?'"

_"Whatever..."_ Sora sighed. _"I still say my Ultima Weapon and Fenrir look much cooler. I mean, come on. A mushroom Keyblade?"_

"You'd prefer a dirty-looking blade wrapped in bandages like some old Egyptian relic?"

_"Hey! Look sharp!"_ Sora warned. Xehanort's Heartless flew at him; his guardian's hands lighting up with energy. It threw its arms out in a downward arc, summoning down streaks of lightning that blazed across the field. Roxas barely managed to Aerial Dodge over the attack.

Taking advantage of the quick interlude, Riku hurried toward Naminé, who was still sitting on the ground, trembling. "Naminé, get up," he said sternly.

"But I..." Riku's arm shot out and scooped her under the armpit. Naminé instinctively shrieked, but Riku calmly lifted her back to her feet.

"Naminé..." He gave her an understanding, yet hard look. "There's a time for thinking and there's a time for acting. Dwelling on your past and shrinking from your fears will surely get you killed in battle." In the back of Naminé's mind, there was a tiny bit of confusion as to why her emotions kept shifting, but it wouldn't register for some reason. "I'm not saying that you should try to abolish your fears," Riku continued. "But instead of freezing up and cowering from them, use them to your advantage as a driving force in your fighting style." Seeing Naminé was unaffected by his words, he decided to take a different approach. "Someone once told me to just be brave. Know that the fear and doubt is there and don't give in. Do that, and you'll gain strength unlike any other." Naminé blinked. The words were vaguely familiar...

Then she remembered. She had said almost the exact same thing to Riku back in Castle Oblivion. Naminé's body finally stopped trembling. She closed her eyes, and took a deep cleansing breath to calm her nerves. When she opened them again, she felt her fear seem to instantly vanish. Naminé looked at Riku and smiled. "Thank you, Riku. I don't know what came over me."

"You're good to go?" Riku asked. Naminé nodded. "Good, because I think your fiancée's getting his butt kicked over there." He pointed over at Roxas, who was doing his best to dodge Ansem's attacks.

"Roxas!" Naminé took up her Keyblade and ran straight at Ansem.

Riku chuckled shaking his head. "Just like Sora." He shouldered his Way to the Dawn and charged at Xemnas.

As Naminé sped toward Xehanort's Heartless, he glared down at her in an arrogant manner. "Insolent brat!" Ansem raised his gaze upward. "Come, guardian!" The Heartless faded away and reappeared in front of its master, shielding Ansem. In a case of temporary lapse in judgment, Roxas bounded up to him in reckless Sora-like fashion with both arms swinging. Unfortunately, the guardian Heartless slammed its claws together, immobilizing Roxas in mid-air. "You're a fool to choose a fight with me!"

_"Isn't this how you lost to Riku last time?"_ Sora asked.

"Not...helping..." Roxas grunted as the Heartless' grip tightened.

While Ansem was occupied, Naminé circled around and managed to connect with a flash kick to the chin. "Get your grubby hands off of my boyfriend!" she roared. Xehanort's Heartless reeled back, forcing the guardian to release Roxas from its grasp.

The dual wielder gave Naminé an incredulous look. "You demoted me from fiancée to boyfriend?"

Sora sighed. _"Girls. Go figure."_

_"Keep complaining and we're demoting you down to acquaintances,"_ Kairi teased.

Xehanort's Heartless managed to recover and quickly hovered straight at the couple. "Submit!" The guardian Heartless raised its giant fist and swung a mighty punch at them.

"As if!" they shouted in unison. Leaping over the Heartless' swipe, the engaged couple dove at the temporarily vulnerable Ansem, weapons at the ready. Ansem grunted as a flurry of Keyblades smacked him across the face. Both Roxas and Naminé managed to land decent aerial combos that sent Xehanort's Heartless reeling.

_"Don't let up the attack!"_ Sora cried as the Nobodies landed on their feet. Without a word, they started for another round of combos, but Ansem was ready for them.

"Take this!" The guardian Heartless suddenly appeared in front of its master, turning into a giant ball of energy that began to rapidly flit around the battlefield like a bullet train off its tracks.

Reacting on instinct, Roxas scooped up Naminé in a classic "Princess cradle" and Aerial Dodged into the air, avoiding the attack. As his body hovered in the air, Roxas grinned at Naminé, who was slightly blushing from embarrassment, yet she felt comfortable in this position. "This has been one crazy honeymoon, huh?" Roxas joked.

Naminé giggled bashfully. "We're not even married yet!" she reminded him.

Meanwhile, Riku tried to keep Xemnas occupied to prevent Roxas and Naminé from being double-teamed. Unfortunately, Xemnas managed to break away from his scuffle and teleported a good distance away from his opponents.

"Be gone!" Xemnas twirled around and began firing out pairs of energy orbs that exploded into crystallic mesh spheres. As they expanded, the orbs' radiuses began to become a bit too close for comfort.

"FLY!" Naminé shrieked.

Roxas winced from her outburst. "I'm right here. You don't have to shout." Like Superman on yellow Kryptonite, Roxas started zooming forward, dodging the aerial energy mines.

_"Wait a minute..."_ Sora realized something odd about the situation. _"Roxas, how is it you can Glide all of a sudden? You weren't able to before..."_

Roxas shrugged. "I think it must be some after-effect from Peter Pan's pixie dust," he suggested.

_"Figures,"_ Sora muttered. Before Xemnas could fire any more Spark Bombs, Riku managed to interrupt his assault by getting under his guard and smacking him upside the head with his Keyblade. Riku aimed his weapon and released a few Dark Auras, but Xemnas teleported out of sight before they could connect.

"My strength returns..." Roxas and Naminé looked down just in time to see the guardian Heartless dissipating from Ansem and spreading itself over the area, swallowing any trace of light into pure darkness. Ansem's body began to take hold of a mysterious glow. "What do you hope to accomplish?" Xehanort's Heartless taunted. While their focus was on Ansem, Xemnas suddenly reappeared right behind the gliding duo and raised his arms. Before they could react, sharp thorn beams twisted themselves out of Xemnas' hands straight for the Keyblade bearers. Roxas was blasted out of the sky as nicks and cuts tore across his skin. Naminé, however...

The beam sliced into the fabric of her dress, miraculously missing her skin completely. One of the straps of her outfit was cleanly cut through giving her a seductive, one-shouldered look. Naminé felt the anger bubble up in her once again. "WHY?! Why is my dress the only thing that gets ripped?!" Without warning, their heart began to ache again. However, instead of the usual agonizing pain, the feeling became icy numb, dimming down to a dull throb. Roxas managed to land on his feet, but he wasn't able to stay upright. Naminé quickly jumped out of his arms and propped his staggering form up against her. "Roxas, are you alright?"

"It stings a bit," Roxas mumbled. Not wanting to use up her magic to heal Roxas, Naminé decided to help him forget about the pain instead. She quickly landed a light peck on his cheek.

"Feel better?" she giggled as Roxas reddened slightly.

"Yeah," he replied in a strained voice.

_"Watch out!"_ Sora and Kairi both shouted. Roxas and Naminé looked down and realized that the entire ground had become a giant lake of liquid darkness. The area underneath their feet suddenly begin to vibrate.

_"It's just like Marluxia!"_ Kairi realized. _"The pillars of darkness!"_ Naminé quickly understood and began running for all its worth. Following the girl's lead, Roxas jumped back in the air and started gliding around in a circular path. Seconds later, the guardian Heartless burst out of the ground where they had once stood.

A few feet away, Riku and Xemnas were clashing swords. "Why?" Xemnas asked. "Why do you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark, never given a choice?"

"You're asking me again?" Riku asked. "I'll tell you this." He stared Xemnas straight into the eyes. "There is ALWAYS a choice. If you hadn't decided to immerse your heart in darkness, things wouldn't have ended up the way they did."

"And yet you yielded yourself to that same darkness," Xemnas countered. "You took the form of my Heartless and claimed that fool Ansem's name as your own." Riku hesitated as Xemnas' words rang through his mind. Taking advantage of Riku's hesitation, Xemnas whirled around and shot his leg out in a tornado kick, smashing the surface of his boot against the teenager's ribcage. As Riku doubled over in pain, the Superior pointed his saber at the teenager's neck. "Why don't you vanish..."

"Roxas!" Roxas whirled around in time to see Xemnas' blade trained on the Dawn wielder. "Castle!" Riku managed to shout as he clutched his ribs. The chess term told Roxas exactly what he had to do. He took aim and hurled his Winner's Proof straight at Xemnas' outstretched hand.

**CLANG!** Xemnas' arm was knocked away from its target, giving Riku enough time to backflip out of range. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. Just the act of movement caused Riku to grimace in pain. Roxas quickly summoned back his thrown Keyblade back to his hand and began running straight for Xemnas.

"The final darkness is now!" Ansem cried. Streaks of purplish flame burst out from underneath him in a cross pattern. Unfortunately, Riku happened to be crouching down in its path. His body reacting on instinct, Riku threw up a Dark Shield, negating the brunt of the attack.

Knowing Riku could take care of himself for the moment, Naminé rushed to help Roxas. Seeing this, Xemnas split himself into two and took aim at the incoming young girl. "Fire!" A plethora of red energy bolts screeched through the air toward her.

Naminé quickly raised her Keyblade and shouted **"WIND!"** An almost invisible sphere of wind formed around her body. She instinctively flinched as the beams made contact with her Aeroga barrier, half-expecting the shots to go through. Fortunately, they instantly fizzled away into thin air, allowing Naminé to visibly relax. "Wow, can't believe that actually worked."

Sensing wounded prey, Xemnas began to dive toward the weakened Riku, but Roxas barred his path. Sora's Nobody twirled the Keyblades in his hands. "Let's duel!" Xemnas' sabers jutted out of his hands as both combatants lunged at each other. Keyblade clashed with Ethereal Blade as The Superior and The Key of Destiny locked their weapons together in mortal combat, neither dual-wielder budging an inch.

"Traitor," Xemnas groaned. Roxas smirked through gritted teeth.

"Noob," he replied. Xemnas eyes widened.

"Insolent child!"

"Ungrateful doo-hickey!" Roxas shot back.

"Are you quite finished?!" Xemnas roared.

"That's what she said."

_"Roxas?"_ Sora muttered. _"You've really gotta work on your comebacks."_

To finally break the stalemate, Xemnas attempted to tornado kick Roxas while their blades were locked. But Naminé wouldn't have it. She cartwheeled through the air, and using her long, silky legs, Naminé clamped Xemnas' head in-between them. Just like she did with Data Roxas, with a rocking backward motion, she used her momentum to lift Xemnas into the air and leg-scissor backflipped him to the ground, slamming his head against the floor. Unlike last time, she managed to land on her feet. "It's over!" Naminé raised her Keyblade, preparing to finish the fight by piercing the weapon through Xemnas' skull. Unluckily, Xemnas quickly recovered enough to curl his body inward and slam both of his boots into Naminé's back, sending her body flying...

...right into the path of Xehanort's Heartless. Ansem smirked as he ordered his guardian to raise its giant fist. Roxas and Riku were too far away to help her.

"Naminé, catch!" Riku hurled his Way to the Dawn in Naminé's trajectory. As the memory witch hurtled toward Xehanort's Heartless, she instinctively reached out with her free hand, grabbed Riku's Keyblade and with the force of a thousand exploding suns, shoved both Keyblades in front of her tearing straight through the center of Ansem's torso, leaving a giant gaping hole through his body. The Heartless guardian disintegrated as the Heartless known as Ansem faded away into data.

_"THAT'S my Dual-Wielding sister!"_ Kairi cheered.

Naminé casually brushed some blonde hair out of her face. "Thanks, Riku!"

Riku made a weak attempt to smile, but the pain in his ribs made it hard to. "Well, you needed help after all..." As Xemnas got back to his feet, Roxas and Naminé each pointed a Keyblade at him.

"Your advantage is gone, Xemnas!" Naminé shouted.

But Xemnas only chuckled. "I wonder about that..." Before they could react, the Superior rose gracefully into the air, his arms spread out like a makeshift god. He slammed his hands together, plunging the entire battlefield into darkness as overwhelming amounts of energy radiated through him. "There's no such thing as light..." Roxas and Naminé quickly surrounded Riku's fallen form and braced themselves as thousands upon thousands of laser bolts began blinking themselves into existence.

"Holy..." Roxas muttered. His grip tightened around his Keyblades.

Riku groaned as he struggled to get up. "Riku! Stay down!" Naminé ordered. She shot a glance at Roxas, who seemed to have come up with the same idea.

"Ready, Naminé?" Roxas asked.

Naminé gave him a sly grin. "With you? Always."

As every laser bolt trained themselves on the trio, Naminé and Roxas raised all four Keyblades in front of them, touching them at the tips. Roxas and Naminé knew what they had to do. They took a deep breath, cleared their minds and focused like they never had before.

**"PROMISE MEMORY!"**

A single gold beam shot vertically out of the Keyblades' tips, a light of truth. The beam splintered; a thousand more beams arced high over their heads, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light.

Xemnas' Multi Shot cascading on the dome's surface, but the barrier held its own. Roxas and Naminé poured every bit of their heart's strength into maintaining the shield.

"Don't break the connection..." Naminé grunted, gritting her teeth.

"Not planning to..." Roxas responded with equally strained effort.

It was all down to a battle of willpower. Xemnas focused as much energy as he dared into breaking through the couple's shield, but the strength of the bond between them seemed unbreakable.

As Riku felt his strength returning, he watched in awe as Roxas and Naminé struggled to maintain their barrier of light. He couldn't help but smirk. _"I forgot that Limits depend on the strength and trust between people,"_ he thought. _"The stronger the bond, the more powerful the Limit. We didn't get to teach Kairi that, but it looks like I didn't have to."_

After what seemed like an eternity, the onslaught finally subsided and all three Nobodies were exhausted from their Limits. Roxas and Naminé collapsed to their knees, the Keyblades dangling uselessly to their sides. However, Xemnas wasn't finished. He channeled within himself all the power that he could muster for one final desperation attack.

_"Roxas! Naminé!"_ Kairi cried. _"We'll take it from here!"_

The two Nobodies looked into each other's eyes, a spark of hope twinkled back at them. They gave each other a weak smile before surrendering their control back to their original selves. Fortunately, Riku had finally recovered enough to stand up. He nodded to the betrothed. "You two ready for this?"

Kairi nodded enthusiastically. "Let's do it!"

"It all ends here!" Sora added.

Xemnas couldn't believe his eyes as all three of them sped toward him with unrestrained ferocity. While he charged his energy with one arm, he raised the other to form a Spark Wall, something to stop their trajectory. Astonishingly, they broke straight through his barrier and it became frighteningly obvious that while their hearts were in full synchronization, they were invincible. Before he could counter...

**"ULTIMA!"** Sora led the attack as the Destiny Island Trio began banging their Keyblades against every spot on Xemnas' weakened form. **"TAKE THIS!"**

**"DARK CANNON!"** The party hovered back a few feet as Riku channeled his dark energy into the Keyblades. Then without warning, purplish fireballs rapidly shot out of the Keyblades, engulfing Xemnas in its flames. "Is that all you got?" And finally...

**"HEARTBREAK STARBURST!"** Kairi, Sora and Riku spread themselves out until they formed a triangle formation around Xemnas. Kairi poured her light energy into all three Keyblades. Instead of red heart bubbles, white heart-shaped beams of light blasted out of the weapon's tips, piercing through Xemnas' body. "Take that, you pervert!" As the beams collided within the center of the triangle, a giant explosion ripped Xemnas' torso from the inside-out, critically injuring him.

While Xemnas flew head over heels helplessly in the air, Sora, Riku and Kairi touched the tips of their Keyblades together and pointed them straight at Xemnas.

**"TRINITY LIMIT!"** they cried. A super condensed beam of energy fired toward Xemnas. His expression was of utmost horror as the beam made contact with the leftover remains of his body, instantly enlarging itself into a blinding, overwhelmingly powered attack.

**"LIGHT!"** Sora shouted.

**"YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE IT ALL!"** Riku added.

**"NEVER AGAIN!"** Kairi finished. The light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping the entire battlefield and all who occupied it.

As the light finally began to fade, so did the rest of Xemnas' body. "No..." The remains of his form began to dissolve back into data. "Not again!" A half-formed hand clutched at his chest. "NOT AGAAAAAIIIINNNNN!" And with that, he was gone.

Kairi gave a toss of her naturally red hair. "Mess with the best..."

_"...Lose like the rest,"_ Naminé finished triumphantly.

Kairi turned toward Sora, intending to glomp the one person she truly missed. Unfortunately, the entire battlefield began shattering to pieces around them, enveloping all three of them into total darkness. The pain in her heart finally reached its breaking point as she clutched her chest, tears streaming from her eyes. It felt like something had exploded inside of her and all she could do was grit her teeth to stop herself from crying out in agony. She instinctively reached for something to hold onto, but her arm met only darkness. The last thing that Kairi heard was Naminé's voice yelling her name before she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Light finally ebbed back into sight as Sora and Riku found themselves in an area that they had never seen before. It was a giant empty area that was in similar size to the previous battlefield. The most distinguishing and prominent feature was the entire arena was covered with a highly reflective surface. No matter which way they turned, it was unavoidable to see their own reflections staring back at them.

Sora was feeling slightly off-balance due to his visual perception being warped. He was forced to blink a few times to steady himself. "Where are we, Riku? The realm of Darkness?"

Riku gave Sora an almost pitying look. "You've been to the realm of Darkness. You know there's no way this is it." He got down on one knee and wiped his finger on the mirrored ground. "Mirrors..." he muttered to himself.

"What are we doing here?" Sora asked. "I thought Kairi defeated all of the Organization members! There's no one left!" Sora's eyes went wide. "Kairi!" He whipped his head around and realized that his fiancée wasn't there. "KAIRI!" he shouted again.

"SORA!" Kairi had reappeared behind him and glomped him with unnecessary force. In any other situation, Sora would've felt awkward and wouldn't have known what to do. However, after being away from Kairi for so long, he almost felt like doing the exact same thing to her. "Sora..." Kairi gripped Sora's body tightly as if she had just learned that he had died and was suddenly reborn. Her face buried itself deep in his chest. The familiar fragrance of honey and paopu fruit reached Sora's nostrils as he gently brushed Kairi's sweet-smelling hair with his fingers. She loosened her hug slightly and stared up at Sora's face.

As Sora looked into her eyes, he noticed that they shone with adoration and...something else. He couldn't quite place it, but there was something that didn't seem right. "Kairi..." He started to lift his arms to reciprocate the hug...

...when a pink and white blur sped past Sora and slammed into Kairi. The Princess of Heart was sent flying back a few feet, but she managed to stay upright. Sora whirled around at the intruder.

"What the..." He couldn't believe his eyes. "Naminé?!" The memory witch had leapt out of nowhere and jump-kicked Kairi across the face.

"Sora! That's not Kairi!" Naminé cried. Kairi's eyes widened at the accusation.

"Sora! Don't listen to her! That's not Naminé!"

Naminé grimly looked at Kairi. "I don't know who you are, but leave these two alone!"

_"Naminé?"_ Roxas didn't know what to make of the situation. _"I thought you were completely drained as I was!"_

Naminé shook her head. "Kairi fell unconscious as soon as Xemnas was destroyed," she explained. "I don't know how, but the next thing I knew, I was here seeing you talking with this..." Her sentence trailed off. "Wait a minute." Naminé looked thoughtful for a moment before her eyebrows shot up. "The scanning of the heart! The memories being recorded!" She pointed the Keyblade at Kairi. "You're their master plan! A clone of Kairi!"

"WHAT?!" Sora and Riku looked from Naminé to Kairi.

"I don't know what your game is," Kairi said, "but you're definitely not Naminé!" She reciprocated the blonde's motion and pointed her own Keyblade at Naminé. Kairi looked at Sora and Riku with a pleading look. "You two don't really believe this fake, do you?"

Sora looked from one girl to the other, completely baffled. "Which one's real?"

_"Don't ask me!"_ Roxas replied. _"I'm just as confused as you are!"_

Riku was characteristically silent in thought. The situation reminded him of facing off against Repliku.

Naminé sighed. "Fine. There's only one way to settle this." The memory witch closed her eyes. Her blonde hair immediately began to darken and tinkle into familiar red while her white dress shimmered and brightened into pink. Unfortunately, as soon as the form of the real Kairi emerged from Naminé, the Kairi clone tackled her to the ground. Both of their Keyblades were immediately disarmed as they rolled around on the floor, struggling to pin the other.

Sora was beside himself. "A Kairi cat-fight?" He shook his head. "Now I've seen everything." He looked up at Riku. "What are we going to do, Riku?"

"There's only one course of action we must take," Riku said darkly. "I just hope Kairi forgives us for what we're about to do."


	34. Closer the Light, Bigger the Shadow

While the Kairis wrestled each other with their dresses riding up (revealing numerous panty shots to Sora and Riku's utter disbelief)...

"What exactly did you have in mind, Riku?" Sora asked as he struggled to keep his gaze averted. Riku cupped his hand and whispered his plan into Sora's ear.

Both Kairis got to their feet and prepared to lunge at each other again when Sora quickly aimed his Keyblade. **"FREEZE!"** Blasts of ice burst out of the Keyblade's tip and caught both Kairis at the ankles. They started to lose their balance, but Sora went and cast Blizzaga at their wrists, immediately following up with Magnega. **"GATHER!"** Soon the girls were completely restrained with their arms locked over their heads and their hands and feet encased in blocks of ice. It was like Vexen all over again, except this time Kairi was upright.

"How long will the spells last?" Riku asked.

"As long as someone's holding onto the Keyblade and stays within range..." Sora glanced at his watch. "About thirty minutes."

As Sora and Riku walked up to the dangling damsels, the Kairi on their right glared at them. "Was this absolutely necessary?"

Sora shot a sideways glance at Riku. "WAS it necessary?"

Riku nodded. "I don't want the fake one to bum rush us while we figure this out."

"Could you at least pull down our dresses?" the Kairi on the left requested. "It's a bit embarrassing for them to be riding up like this."

"You'll manage," Riku said sternly. "You've already went through a bunch of embarrassing situations. What's one more?"

Sora blinked. "Kinda harsh, don't you think Riku?"

Riku shook his head. "If this clone of Kairi is as strong and dangerous as Repliku, then I'd rather not take any chances."

"So..." Sora ruffled his spiked, bushy hair. "How're we supposed to tell who's who?" Riku only crossed his arms in silence.

_"We could try asking them something only the real Kairi would know,"_ Roxas suggested.

Again, Riku shook his head. "Usually I'd agree with that, but..."

"But what?"

"The Organization's been scanning both my heart and memories," the Kairi on the right explained. "So she would know everything that I know."

_"Oh."_ Roxas didn't know what else to say.

"How about Naminé?" Sora asked. "She could talk to us!"

But the idea was shot down when the Kairi on the left said, "It's no use. The Organization was able to block my connection with Naminé earlier."

The other Kairi nodded. "She can hear us, but she can't respond."

Sora threw up his hands in surrender. "I give up!" He looked up helplessly at Riku. "Any other bright ideas?"

Before Riku could respond, a flash of brilliance occurred to Roxas. _"The good luck charm!"_ he exclaimed. _"They may be able to recreate outward appearances, but not items!"_

Riku looked like he was about to reject the suggestion, but shrugged instead. "Good idea. Maybe one of them has it." He gave a sweeping bow as if he were a butler greeting guests to enter the mansion. "They're all yours, Sora."

It took a few seconds before Sora realized what Riku was suggesting. "Wait!" His face was in a state of shock. "Are you saying you want me to..."

Riku smirked. "Yeah. You're going to have to frisk both of them." He glanced over at the two Kairis who were equally stunned. "If either of you are the real Kairi, then you shouldn't have any problems with your boyfriend feeling you up."

"But..." Sora didn't feel good all of a sudden. "Wouldn't it be in one of their purses?"

The Kairi on the left cleared her throat. "Um...actually I keep it in my inside pocket."

"Which one?" Sora asked slowly.

He felt even sicker as she replied, "I honestly don't remember at the moment." The feelings of guilt and reluctance swirled through Sora's mind as he began to imagine what he was about to do.

"So, Sora..." Riku raised an eyebrow mockingly. "Are you ready?"

"I...I don't know about this, Riku," Sora stammered.

"Would you rather I do it?" Knowing Sora would rather give up his Keyblade than pass up an opportunity like this, Riku smiled serenely as the bushy-haired youth carefully handed him his Keyblade so the Magnega spell would stay active.

Sora walked up to the Kairi on the right first. As he looked into the seemingly genuine fear and sorrow in her eyes, Sora couldn't help but feel extreme guilt rise up inside him. _"Hey! Look sharp!"_ Roxas said. _"Don't think about it and just do it!"_

Kairi's betrothed took a few deep breaths while this Kairi closed her eyes and braced herself. The Keyblade master reached out with trembling limbs. As soon as his hands made contact with her body, she immediately stiffened up. Sora's face was full of shame and embarrassment. "Please forgive me, Kairi," he muttered. Sora knew how unbearably ticklish she was, so he tried to be as gentle, but thorough. Unfortunately for her, his definition of "gentle" meant moving as slowly as possible.

This Kairi struggled to keep her body as still as she could. Her chest heaved with deep breaths and her face was scrunched up with concentration. As his fingers began traveling down her ribcage, she bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from screaming. She instinctively stopped breathing with her ribcage expanded and puffed out like a parade balloon. Her expression seemed to say _"Quit being slow and gentle and get it over with already!"_ Sora struggled to keep his hands steady, but out of pure nervousness, they would vibrate a little, causing her to squirm and shake from holding in her breath. He was hoping that he would find something as he patted down near her hips, but to his dismay, he could feel nothing but her wiggling form. As soon as Sora removed his hands from her lower half, a giant burst of air blasted out from her lungs as she exhaled in relief.

"This one doesn't have it," Sora stated to Riku.

The Dawn wielder only shrugged. "Well, what are you waiting for? Try the other one," he calmly urged.

As Sora began patting down the other Kairi, he noticed that her reaction was slightly the same, except she didn't seem to be holding in any laughter. There was an almost relaxed expression as if she were more into it than the first Kairi. When Sora began patting down her hips, a quiet moan escaped her lips and she bucked slightly. The first Kairi's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh my gawd!" she exclaimed. "Are you...getting aroused by this?!" As soon as he heard this, Sora's hands snapped back to his sides.

"I'm pretty sure that this one doesn't have it either," Sora said quickly.

_"I don't know whether to be disturbed about this situation or disturbed that I'm not disturbed about this situation,"_ Roxas commented.

Sora gave Riku a pained look. "Neither of them have the good luck charm. What does that mean?"

"That Kairi secretly loves your touch," Riku chuckled.

"Riku!" the Kairis shouted in unison.

"It looks like your idea failed," Sora said hopelessly. But instead of being disappointed, Riku had a wicked smirk plastered on his face.

"First of all, it was Roxas' idea. And second of all," Riku's smirk rose higher, "I only agreed because I thought it'd be funny."

"WHAT?!"

"The way all three of you were blushing and quivering was priceless!" he laughed.

"RIKU!" Sora, Roxas and the Kairis all shouted in embarrassment.

Riku shook his head and immediately became characteristically solemn again. "In all seriousness, though," Riku pointed toward the second Kairi, "that's the clone."

"What makes you say that?" the Kairi he accused asked.

"The darkness," he stated promptly. "You reek of it."

The Kairi he accused didn't say anything at first. But then a tiny smile appeared on her lips. "Never could fool you, emo boy," she said quietly. A giant explosion of energy burst from her body as she freed herself from the restraints, knocking Sora and Riku a good distance away. Fortunately, the shockwave freed the real Kairi from her bondage as well. She dove for her discarded Keyblade and flipped up into her battle stance.

"Anti-Sora...Dark Riku...Shadow Roxas..." The clone's outfit dissolved from the usual pink cotton to black leather. "All of the boys have had their own dark halves. So why not you?" She looked horrendously beautiful with an aura of darkness that seemed to wisp from her very presence. "Call me...Yamikai."

"Yamikai?" Kairi repeated. "What kind of stupid name is that?"

"Mock my name all you want, girlie," Kairi's doppelganger chortled. She raised her hand and blasted two Dark Firagas at Sora and Riku, knocking them away out of attack range. The impact forced Riku to release his grip on Sora's Keyblade which clattered to the ground. Before they could recover, barriers of light surrounded the two girls, preventing the boys from helping Kairi. The Princess of Heart looked longingly at her two friends, helpless to assist her. Yamikai giggled. "What's wrong, Princess? Afraid to take on the darkness within by yourself?"

_"She's not alone!"_ Kairi felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her body and heart. _"Kairi's still got me!"_

"Naminé!" Kairi cried with relief.

_"D'ya miss me?"_ Naminé asked.

But Yamikai wasn't fazed. "Big deal. So you've got your partner back. Too bad all she can do is cower in the back of your mind."

_"Girl, I don't know how you came to exist,"_ Naminé snapped, _"but we're going to send you back to the oblivion from where you came from!"_

The Princess of Darkness giggled again. "Funny you should mention that." She held the Keyblade in front of her, feeding dark energy into it. After wrapping it in darkness, the shadows shattered revealing the Oblivion Keyblade.

"What?!" Kairi couldn't believe her eyes. "Oblivion?"

_"I don't like the looks of this,"_ Naminé stated nervously.

Another dark object began to form in Yamikai's free hand. It was twice as big as the Keyblade and looked hauntingly familiar.

"Saix's claymore?!" Kairi and Naminé exclaimed.

"With all that energy building up within your heart, you failed to realize that the Organization was just giving you more than just power..." Yamikai raised the claymore and slammed the ground, releasing a mild shockwave that blew Kairi's hair back. "They were giving you THEIR powers. Which means..." The anomaly gave Kairi an evil grin. "...I can wield all their weapons too."

* * *

"Cloud!" Tifa and Aerith watched in horror as a Berserker's weapon finally managed to slam into Cloud's stomach that sent him flying across the hall. For the allies, the battle was taking a turn for the worse. Most of the fighters were exhausted and/or knocked out. The only ones left standing were Yuffie, Tifa, Aerith, Mulan, Ariel, the Prince, Peter Pan and King Mickey.

"This is bad!" Yuffie cried. "There's too many of them!"

Tifa spun around and Water Kicked a couple of Soldier Heartless. "We've got to keep fighting or else-" She was interrupted by a glancing blow from a Hot Rod.

"Tifa!" Aerith and Yuffie ran to help her, but a half-dozen Dancers barred their path.

"Get out of our way!" Yuffie shouted. From out of nowhere, she pulled out a green Materia orb and held it in front of her. **"ULTI-"** Before she could finish her chant, a Dragoon's lance came rocketing through and knocked the Materia out of her hand, causing the spell to be ineffective. "No! My Materia!" She dove for her precious cargo, but she was intercepted by Neoshadows that began to lay the smackdown on her.

Aerith was struggling herself as she couldn't get enough breathing room to cast any spells of her own. She could only swipe her staff futilely and dodge under blades and appendages. A few feet away, even though Ariel and the Prince were equipped, they were forced to take the back row as Mulan and the King fought up front doing their best to knock back enemies that dared to get past their defenses.

The situation seemed so hopeless that even Peter Pan didn't display his usual childish bravado. The sky was no longer the safe haven he was used to as Dragoons and Air Pirates both swooped in from every which way. "Hey! No fair!" he complained. "I'm the only one who's supposed to be able to fly!" He didn't see the incoming Air Pirate zooming in behind him. It raised its sword for a killing blow...

**TWINK!** Tinker Bell flung her entire body at the Heartless, giving Peter a chance to turn around and destroy it. Unfortunately, she rebounded into a Berserker's path and was swatted across the room.

"TINK!" Peter zoomed as fast as he could to catch the little pixie. "Tinker Bell! Are you alright?" The fairy's luminosity flickered as she struggled to stay conscious. On closer inspection, two of her wings were bent out of shape. "Tink, just hang on!"

A few feet below him, the remaining fighters were forced into a tightly knit bunch as the creatures corralled around them. "Don't give up!" King Mickey yelled. "We need to..." His voice trailed off as the sight of something horrendous came into view. A giant tidal wave made up of Dusks and Shadows filled the hallway, enveloping anything and everything in its path. Sora's friends braced themselves for impact.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you guys," Yuffie said hopelessly. The mass of Heartless and Nobodies rushed as one and...

**SHWIINGG!** A floor-to-ceiling wall of light erupted in front of the fallen heroes, forcing the creatures to bounce off into a pile of tangled limbs. Before the group could ponder what happened, the double doors behind them burst open.

"Everyone get inside!" Hayner yelled. "Hurry!" Both the Destiny Island and Twilight Town kids helped the remaining fighters to carry the unconscious into the room before shutting the doors with a dull THOOM! As soon as she was sure that they were safe, Aerith wasted no time in casting Curaga on her fallen comrades. Everyone else began applying Potions on the wounded.

Yuffie clutched her chest as she finally caught her breath. "What...just happened?" She leaned against the curved wall to keep herself upright.

"I activated the security system," Tron explained. "Nobody else should be able to get in through those doors."

"But how do we get out?" Mulan asked.

Tron shook his head. "Unfortunately, that was the only available exit. The other door's still inaccessible."

"I can't believe we were beaten so badly," Ariel sighed.

Mulan walked up and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "At least we're all still in one piece."

"What in..." Pence suddenly gasped. Mickey and Hayner ran up to the console tree.

"Pence, talk to us," Hayner prodded. "What happened?"

The computer geek began rapidly typing. "Something just popped up on the monitor." The screen he was looking at had random numbers and images scrolling quickly in random directions. "It looks like..." He leaned closer and squinted. Then his eyes shot wide open. "No way."

"What is it?" Hayner asked impatiently.

Pence blinked a couple of times as if confirming his eyes. "Sora, Riku and Kairi are all back in the real world, but..."

"But?" Mickey repeated.

"According to this, their location is a hundred feet below this room." He pointed at a monitor that seemed to hold stats on any subjects that managed to occupy the computer's cyberspace.

Hayner's eyes narrowed. "You mean to tell us that there's actually another room even deeper than this mineshaft?"

"Can you get us there?" Mickey asked.

Pence licked his lips slightly. "I could try. But right now all the power's being diverted to the security wall."

Hayner gave him a friendly punch to the bicep. "We believe in you. Just get us there and we'll handle the rest."

Mickey sighed with relief. "Welp, at least we know they're okay."

"Actually, that's not the strangest part," Pence said. He pointed toward another monitor. "For some reason, the system is reading Kairi twice."

Hayner furrowed his brow. "A glitch?"

"Maybe..." Pence didn't look convinced.

"By the way..." Tidus looked around the room. "Do you know where those faeries went? I haven't seen them since everyone grouped together."

"I think they said they were going to bring some extra help," Olette answered, "just in case."

"Huh." Tidus raised his eyes to the purple-hued sky above them. "I hope Yuna's okay..."


	35. The Light Within the Darkness

"Show me what you got, girlie!" Yamikai laughed.

Kairi's eyes narrowed as she gritted her teeth. "You are so freakin' dead," she growled. Pulling her arm back, she charged at the imposter as her double did the same. As the Keyblades locked together, Yamikai raised the claymore for an early finishing blow. Sensing what was going to happen, Kairi released the pressure she was giving and whirled around outside the attack, aiming for the kidneys. Yamikai countered by Dodge-Flipping forward, causing Kairi's swing to hit nothing but air.

As the dark twin leapt to her feet, she gave the Princess of Heart another little giggle. "Not bad, Real Thing," she taunted, "but you are so predictable! I mean, come on! I know you're better than that!"

_"I'm liking this girl less and less,"_ Naminé muttered. _"She reminds me too much of Larxene."_

"Tell me about it," Kairi agreed. "Well, if we can't fight her hand-to-hand..." She trained her Keyblade on Yamikai. **"FREEZE!"** Kairi shot out a Blizzaga spell toward Yamikai. Her opponent only cackled as the weapon in her left hand transformed itself into Vexen's shield which only absorbed and effectively nullified the spell. In her right hand, she switched Saix's claymore for Lexaeus' tomahawk. Then like a bullet train off its tracks, she lunged at Kairi.

The tomahawk missed its target as Kairi Dodge-Flipped out of range and prepared a counter of her own. Her Keyblade whirled around at the opponent, only for her attack to be parried by Vexen's shield. Using the shield as leverage, Yamikai knocked the Keyblade back, switched the tomahawk with Larxene's kunai and slashed at the midsection, ripping a deep gash into Kairi's stomach.

Kairi clutched her stomach in pain and was aware that she was finally bleeding. "What? You thought you'd get off with just being stripped this time?" Yamikai immediately traded in the shield for Xigbar's gun arrows and took aim. "I know the boys would love seeing that, but the Organization's been too lenient on you."

"Kairi!" Sora yelled as he pounded on the barrier.

Yamikai rolled her eyes as she lowered her gun arrows slightly. "Shut up, loser." Sora looked like he had been slapped. "I don't know which is more pathetic: a boy who's thick-headed not to know when he's been played or a so-called chosen one who's arrogant enough to think he can fight alone." She glared at Riku. "You're a hypocrite, you know that, Riku? You fight against the dark and yet you wield it like it's your toy. You're no better than the Organization you murdered."

Riku's eyes narrowed. "At least I've regained my light," he said curtly. "You, however, have no chance of becoming whole ever again."

Kairi's twin only smirked. "You know, I prefer being dark. After being weakened by my heart's desires, it feels nice to finally let loose of all the anger that's built up over the years."

"There's no point in talking with you, is there?" Kairi asked. "You were born from the darkness the Organization implanted in my heart. And now that you're finally your own being, you think that wielding all that power makes you special."

_"Using the dark for your own sick desires leads you to the path of self-destruction,"_ Naminé added._ "You're not a complete being without light to balance your dark."_

"Empty words from someone who preferred to sacrifice her own happiness for a meaningless existence in another's body," Yamikai retorted. "You don't have a body of your own, so you have to share one now. You can't do anything for yourself besides think your little thoughts in the back of your host's brain, never being able to reach out and touch the world." The leather-clad beauty laughed. "You're so pitiful, it's pathetic." She re-aimed her gun arrows. "Die."

Kairi only had a split-second to react at the projectiles flew at her. She backflipped out of the line of fire which caused her wound to open up slightly. Using one hand to fire gun arrows and the other to throw kunai, Yamikai ran after the dodging Princess, her footsteps echoing throughout the mirrored arena.

Meanwhile, Sora reached out to summon back his Keyblade from the other side of the barrier when Riku quickly grabbed his arm to stop him. "What are you doing, Riku?" He gave the Dawn wielder an incredulous look. "She needs our help!"

Riku shook his head. "If you summon the Keyblade back to your hand, then Kairi won't have any advantages left."

Sora didn't get it. "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it, Sora." He pointed at Sora's discarded Keyblade. "Right now the weapon advantage is in Yamikai's favor. She technically has thirteen weapons at her disposal. All Kairi has is the one Keyblade." Riku could almost see the gears ticking along in Sora's mind. "Get it now?"

Kairi didn't hear any of this as she was too busy dodging projectiles to notice. Fortunately, Naminé heard every word. _"Kairi! Get up on the Hydra's back!"_

"What?"

_"I mean, grab Sora's Keyblade!"_ Kairi whirled around and quickly looked for the weapon.

"Where is it?!" As if answering her question, Sora's Keyblade started to emanate a powerful light. Wasting no time, Kairi quickly dove for the weapon.

Unfortunately, Yamikai spied it too and switched out her kunai for one of Axel's chakrams and immediately threw it at Sora's weapon. The Princess of Heart was mere feet from the Keyblade when the chakram blazed in and knocked the weapon from her reach. Kairi pounded the ground in frustration and hastily started to get up, but her double swooped in on her sprawled out form and punted her in the ribs with enough force that Kairi could feel her insides rattling around. "You're not going to get away with a cheap save this time, Real Thing." Using her foot, Yamikai flipped the wincing Kairi onto her back, held her steady and aimed her gun arrows point-blank at the throat. "Any last words?"

_**"BURN BABY!"**_ Naminé yelled. Fireballs erupted from Kairi's Keyblade and protected their master, causing Yamikai to shriek in pain. Kairi took advantage of the situation to sweep the Keyblade underneath her clone's legs, knocking her flat on her back. Kairi quickly leapt to her feet and tried to plunge the Keyblade into the monstrosity's chest, but was knocked back when Yamikai's boots slammed into her stomach, sending her flying back a few feet.

"You little witch!" Yamikai roared. She push-flipped her way upright and was about to fire her gun arrows again when Kairi smacked her wrist, disarming her left hand of its weapon. Kairi followed up with an elbow dash to the side of the face, stunning the girl.

"I almost feel sorry for messing up your face," Kairi said sarcastically, "especially one so dazzling!" She finished off the combo by jumping slightly on the ball of her foot and letting loose a flawless super kick to the chin, snapping Yamikai's neck back. And with that, Kairi dove for Sora's Keyblade once more. Yamikai switched out her chakram for Demyx's sitar and with a flying leap, she raised the weapon over her head with the intent of slamming it straight through Kairi's skull.

The instant Kairi's fingers made contact with Sora's Keyblade, a brilliant blast of light erupted out of nowhere, engulfing everyone's view. Yamikai felt her sitar make contact with something, but it wasn't at all pliable. The brightness faded slightly to reveal the clone's weapon pushing against Kairi's Keyblade. "What...?!" Before she could react, the second Keyblade shot out of the light and slammed her with so much force, it sent her hurtling across the battlefield. Yamikai managed to land on her feet, but there was astonishment etched across her smooth features. "Of all the times to unleash it now..." she growled.

Kairi looked down and was stunned to find herself hovering a few inches off the ground. "No way..." She was even more stunned that her outfit had changed completely as well. Instead of the pink ensemble that she usually wore, her outfit had been replaced with a flowing silver evening gown that covered her from Kairi's bare shoulders to trailing seamlessly a few feet along the ground. Angelic wings had erupted from her back supporting her with its own will. The outfit formed so well against her body that it felt like a second skin. There was enough give for complete freedom of movement. However, due to the feeling of skin rubbing skin, she quickly realized that she was completely naked underneath the dress. No shoes or underwear at all. Kairi felt slightly embarrassed, but was grateful that the dress wouldn't accidentally reveal anything private due to its length and custom fit.

Then she noticed that floating behind her were two Keyblades: hers and an unfamiliar-looking one. It was not Sora's Kingdom Key or anything else that seemed to resemble it. It had a rainbow of colors over its surface. However, the colors themselves looked like they were drawn on or somehow splashed on. It wasn't jagged or sharp like Ultima Weapon, but it gave out the same aura of strength while at the same time a feeling of peace. That's when Kairi realized that the Keyblade hovering right beside hers was...

_"Mine?"_ Naminé whispered. _"I...have my own Keyblade?"_

Yamikai was able to regain her composure. "Huh. Looks like since all the darkness was finally expelled from your body, your light's true power's finally been released."

"My...true power?" Kairi repeated with confusion.

"We're a Princess of Heart, right?" Yamikai asked. "You have untapped hidden abilities that even the so-called "Heroes of Light" couldn't begin to imagine them. Smile for them, Red. You've got something that they can never hope to acquire."

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "You're not a Princess of Heart, let alone a Princess of anything!"

"Oh, I beg to differ. I came from you, remember?" The weapons in her hands began to reshape again. "I guess you can call me a Princess of Darkness."

_"Honey, you're nothing more than a wench!"_ Naminé snapped.

"Yeah, and you're a witch," Yamikai replied curtly. "Doesn't change anything." Weapons reformed in her hands to reveal once again Oathkeeper and Oblivion. "Since we're both dual-wielding, we might as well make this a true Keyblade battle, right?"

Responding to their thoughts, Kairi and Naminé's Keyblades quickly brought themselves to their owner's front in a guarding position. Kairi didn't have to lift a finger. "There's time to be impressed later," Kairi told herself. "Let's show this fake that she's no match for the real thing!"

_"Ready when you are, Kairi,"_ Naminé replied.

Meanwhile, outside the barrier, the boys were awestruck. _"That's almost exactly like your Final Form," _Roxas said._ "I mean other than the dress, of course."_

"Yeah, but her outfit changed completely," Sora said. "Not just a color change but a total makeover."

Riku gave a sideways glance at him. "Aren't you glad you didn't summon back your Keyblade?"

"No kidding," Sora replied. _'And that outfit accents a lot more of her cuter features,'_ he added silently.

Riku smirked. "That look on your face says that you don't seem to mind what she's wearing one bit."

"What?! What makes you say that, huh?" Sora stammered with a guilty look on his face.

Riku looked downward at Sora's pants. "It shows."

"WHAT?!" Sora was shocked at the accusation. He followed Riku's gaze downward and was stunned to see something poking through the fabric. Determined to prove him wrong, he jammed his fist down into his front pocket and whipped out...

Riku couldn't believe his eyes. "A Codebreaker?"

Sora only grinned. "How else do you think I managed to hold Final Form for so long?" he chuckled.

* * *

"You know, there's something that's been bothering me..." Rikku was pondering. While everyone else had charged inside the mineshaft, the Gullwings had decided that it wouldn't hurt to have some backup for the calvary. Now they were zipping along the rocky chasms unhindered as all of the Heartless and Nobodies were being concentrated to where the fight was taking place.

Yuna looked at Rikku curiously. "What's that?"

"Why exactly are we faerie-sized anyways? Why couldn't we be our regular size like we were in our solo game?"

Yuna air braked to a sudden stop. "You're still worried about that? We were designed so that we wouldn't crowd up the screen and use up any unnecessary pixels."

"What?!" Rikku pouted and put her hands on her hips. "Are you saying that I look fat?"

"Wha...NO! Of course not!" Yuna exclaimed. "I'm just saying that Nomura thought that we'd look weird if we were our full size."

"Now you're saying that I'm weird looking?" Rikku looked like she was about to cry.

"Wait! That's not what I meant either!" Yuna didn't know what else to say.

"You're so mean, Yunie!" Rikku palmed her face and began to make sobbing noises as her shoulders heaved sadly.

"Rikku! I'm so sorry!" Yuna reached out with one arm and wrapped it around to console her friend. "I didn't mean..."

Suddenly Rikku's sobs instantly faded away into giggles. She lifted her face up to reveal that she was only faking. "Sometimes you make this too easy!" Rikku laughed.

Yuna let go of her and shook her head. "I can't believe I just fell for that."

Paine rolled her eyes. "If you two are finished, can we get back to the situation on hand?"

"You think that Tidus is alright?" Yuna wondered out of the blue.

"HA!" Rikku poked Yuna in the ribs playfully. "I knew you thought he was cute!"

Yuna couldn't help but blush furiously. "It's not that...it's just..." she stammered.

"Yunie and Tidus, sitting in a tree..." Rikku sang.

"Besides, it wouldn't work out for us," Yuna said sadly. "He's a human and I'm a faerie. There's no way for either of us to literally see eye-to-eye."

"Well..." Paine had her arms crossed and her head drooped down in thought. "There IS one way..." There was a shadow of a smirk playing on her lips. "It's not a difficult spell, but it is exhausting."

"You mean it's possible?" Rikku asked. Paine gave her a little nod.

"The magic will allow the faerie in question to take the appearance of a human. However, the longer you hold the form, the more energy that'll be drained. Even more so if you use any of your magic abilities." She gave Yuna a stern look. "So if you need to fight, you'd need to make it quick."

Yuna seemed intrigued by the idea. "How long would it last, though?"

"Depends on the user. It could be as much as two hours or as less as five minutes." And then Paine's head snapped up. "However, shouldn't we be concentrating on getting them, though?"

Rikku shook her head. "I still don't know why we're even bothering. They seemed PRETTY lame to me."

"Whether they like it or not, this whole situation affects them too," Paine said grimly. "Their world's at risk just as ours is."

Yuna pursed her tiny lips together. "Are you sure they'll do it?"

Paine shrugged. "It's not like they have a choice in the matter."

* * *

"I possess every weapon that the Organization has! I have all your powers and abilities; memories and strengths; your attacks and spells!" Yamikai's eyes glistened with loathing. "The only way to win is to be able to defeat yourself!"

"You may believe you have everything," Kairi stated, "but there's one thing you lack!" She patted the left side of her chest.

"A killer rack?"

Kairi's eyes widened in horror. "NO! Don't be so crude! I'm talking about a heart!"

"Well, then..." Yamikai twirled the Keyblades in her hands. "Let's see which is truly more powerful. Your light or my dark!" And with that, the two charged at each other like a tiger and lion unleashed.

The next few minutes were a blur. Keyblades slashed and clashed at each other, sending out sparks and sonic booms through the air. There was nothing much to say for these dueling divas. Kairi's eyes were flaring with determination. "I refuse to believe that a creature like you would come from me!" she snapped.

"A creature, you say? Then what does that make you?" Yamikai shot her arm out. **"Dark Firaga!"** A fireball of pure darkness was shot out straight toward Kairi.

In response, Kairi's wings spread themselves to their full length and flapped themselves at the projectiles. **"Heaven's Wing!"** Thick feather bolts shot out intercepting the projectile's paths causing them to explode on contact.

Yamikai rushed at Kairi, her nostrils flaring with malice. "You don't get it, do you?!" Her Oathkeeper and Oblivion slammed into Kairi's Keyblades. "I'm the manifestation of your inner darkness! I know exactly how you've felt over the years!" She grinned as their weapons locked together in a test of power. "You were always jealous of the boys when they did their sword-fighting or their marathons. They always saw you as the girl who couldn't do anything but look cute and pretty. Completely useless when it came to strength or agility!"

Kairi shoved Yamikai away with her Keyblades and began to whirl them around her body like a propeller. "Did it matter?" Kairi asked rhetorically. "Did it matter if we seemed weak to them? They're our friends! So what if we couldn't do much? They stood up for us and were always there when we needed them!" The orbiting Keyblades forced Yamikai to leap away from their owner.

"They turned their back on you!" Yamikai spat. "They left you on the Islands, sheltering you from the cold reality of the outside world! They didn't want you to come with them or you'd just be in their way!"

"But I never stopped believing in them!" Kairi shot back. "Just like they're believing in me, in us, to take you down!" She flapped up into the air and aimed her Keyblades at her target. **"TAKE THIS!"** The two Keyblades began to circle one another like a ritualistic dance before letting loose a single beam of intensely compacted light that shook the air with its power. The energy beam blasted into the malleable reflective surface causing an explosion that knocked Yamikai off her feet.

"Enough games." Yamikai charged her Keyblades with pure darkness and hurled them both at Kairi who instinctively raised her own to block. Unfortunately, free of any excess weight, the Princess of Darkness managed to do an "Instant Movement" technique to quickly get behind the airborne Kairi and fire out a ferocious kick to her back. The maneuver caught Kairi off guard and she flew right into the oncoming Keyblades path. Oathkeeper and Oblivion sliced through her angel wings, shattering them on contact. The action caused a huge explosion of light that sent both combatants flying.

"KAIRI!" Sora and Riku shouted. When the light faded, Yamikai was still on her feet. She was breathing rather heavily, but managed to stay upright. Kairi, however, was sprawled out on the ground, half-conscious. Her clothes had switched back to its beaten and ripped state. Her Keyblade was inches away from her right hand while Naminé's Keyblade had reverted back to Sora's Kingdom Key.

The doppelganger walked calmly across the battlefield to where Kairi lay. The Keyblades were covered with darkness once again as she formed a new weapon. "You put up a decent fight. I'll give you that much," Yamikai said. "But you should've already known that you would never have beaten me. The closer you are to the light, the larger your shadow becomes." The only weapon she had in her hand now was Marluxia's scythe. "A fitting weapon for your death, wouldn't you say?" She raised it over her head. "Goodbye, my weaker self." The scythe sliced through the air at the helpless girl...

**CLANG!** Yamikai couldn't believe her eyes. Instead of her weapon impaling Kairi's head, the scythe was now pushing against Riku's Way to the Dawn. "But...how?" she wondered before Riku blasted her away with one of his Dark Auras.

Riku smirked. "That explosion of light shattered your barrier," he explained. "Which gives us the chance to have OUR say."

Sora summoned back his Keyblade to his hand and raised it over Kairi's weakened form. **"HEAL!"** With all her wounds healed, Kairi slowly pushed herself up off the ground. Sora extended a hand and helped her up. "You okay?"

Kairi nodded. "Yeah...a little shaky, but I'm fine." She tightened her grip on the Keyblade. "Naminé? You doing okay back there?"

_"Considering we just used everything we had against that girl and still lost..."_ Naminé's confidence was a bit shook up. _"How're we supposed to beat her?"_

_"Look sharp!"_ Roxas warned. Sora and Kairi turned back to the enemy at hand, getting back into their battle stances.

"Hmph." Yamikai switched her scythe with Lexaeus' tomahawk and Vexen's shield again. "Altogether now, are we?" Yamikai mocked. "The spaz, the ditz and the tits."

"Um...which of us is the ditz?" Sora wondered.

Riku and Kairi both gave him a pitying look. "Only you would wonder about that, Sora," Kairi sighed.


	36. Endgame

**"TAKE THIS!"** Sora's Keyblade flashed through the air and cracked Vexen's raised shield while Riku's Way to the Dawn was parried with Lexaeus' tomahawk.

"Pathetic," Yamikai mocked. When Kairi came flying in down the center, the Princess of Darkness leapt back, sending both boys off balance and colliding into Kairi's path. "I can't believe I was ever friends with a couple of losers like you two."

"We've got to coordinate our attacks," Riku muttered to Sora and Kairi as they untangled themselves from their disorganized heap. "If we don't, we're going to end up attacking each other by accident." He stood up and got back into his battle stance. "I'll take the left side. Sora flanks the right. Kairi charges straight through. Agreed?" Without waiting for an answer, he charged at Yamikai, his steel-like gaze focused on target.

Seeing this, Yamikai switched her tomahawk to Saix's claymore. "Bring it on, 'friend.'" She swung the claymore at the ground, causing blue shockwaves to appear in his path. Riku leapt up and took aim.

**"Dark Aura!"** He fired off a series of purplish fireballs at Yamikai who raised her shield from the aerial assault. Sensing movement behind her, the dark Kairi whirled around and ended up with the flat side of Sora's Keyblade slapping her across the face. She gave him a terrified look.

"I can't believe you would hit me so hard!" she cried as crocodile tears welling up in her eyes. Yamikai's lips started to quiver.

Sora was completely taken back at her response and lowered his guard. "Oh, sorry about..."

Yamikai smirked. "Idiot." She slammed the handle of her claymore into Sora's midsection, sending the Keyblade master to his knees. "I knew you were too soft." She raised the weapon over her head.

"Leave him alone!" Kairi slid in from behind and swept her leg around, making contact with Yamikai's calves and sending her crashing backward to the floor.

_"Hurry!"_ Naminé yelled. Kairi twirled her Keyblade in her grip and proceeded to stab Yamikai in the chest again, only to be deflected by Vexen's shield. Before anyone could react, Riku dove in from out of nowhere and bashed at the shield with his Keyblade until the ice finally shattered, spraying shards everywhere.

"GRRAAAH!" Yamikai looked furious. Kairi and Riku swung again for the finishing blow, but the doppelganger summoned Xaldin's lances to protect her, blocking both of their attacks long enough for her to flip back onto her feet.

Sora rubbed his stomach, wincing from the surprise attack. "I'm starting to think we can't beat her with conventional methods," Sora said. He closed his eyes and felt his heart's inner strength rush through him. **"LET'S GO!"** Sora's body encased itself within a sphere of light that shattered to reveal his Final Form once again. However instead of Fenrir, Roxas' Fateful Encounter had appeared alongside Sora's Ultima Weapon.

_"It's time to duel!"_ Roxas yelled. Sora nodded and flew at Yamikai. The Keyblades automatically protected their owner by constantly parrying any lance that tried to stab through him.

As soon as he was able to get past Yamikai's guard, he made a fist and punched the girl's stomach with all his might. "Sorry, Kairi," Sora muttered. Evil or not, it disgusted him that he had to attack Kairi with his bare hands. However, the guilt quickly passed when Yamikai began to laugh.

"THAT was your punch?!" she giggled. "That was so...pathetic! I mean, my grandmother could punch harder than you!" Larxene's kunai appeared in-between her fingers as she tightened her hand into a fist. "Now THIS, is how you punch someone!" Sora's eyes widened. _"FALCOOON PAAUNCH!"_ Kairi and Riku could only watch helplessly as Sora found himself zooming across the room, traces of electricity sparking from his body. His Ultima Weapon and Fateful Encounter trailed after their owner.

Yamikai quickly transitioned the lances and kunai into Luxord's cards and Zexion's lexicon which began to attack Kairi and Riku with their own mindless aggression. "You know, I never liked these games!" Kairi shouted as the giant cards zinged after her like buzzsaws. Riku only grunted in response as he was bombarded from all sides by the multiplying books.

On the other side of the arena, Sora winced as he began to hover back into an upright position. He looked down at his stomach and saw that he was bleeding slightly from where he was stabbed. "Well that...was humiliating," he muttered under his breath.

_"What? That you punch like a girl?"_ Roxas asked.

Sora rolled his eyes. "No, the fact that she tried to pass off a copyrighted catchphrase as her own." He cringed again as the pain slowly throbbed from his abdomen. "That girl is CLEARLY evil." Seeing his friends in trouble, he commanded both Keyblades to rise above his head. **"THUNDER!"** Streaks of lightning rained down over the battlefield, clearing out both the cards and books from their onslaught. Sora quickly Superglided back to the group.

_"Glad you decided to rejoin the party!"_ Naminé cried as Sora flew back into range.

"YOU $$#o!&$!" Yamikai roared. "I'M GOING TO & $%^!* KILL YOU!" Larxene's kunai and Saix's claymore reappeared in her hands.

_"Why's she furious all of a sudden?"_ Roxas wondered as Sora began to dodge the tiny knives flying around randomly.

"A little...busy right now!" Sora's Keyblades circled around their owner as they shielded any incoming projectiles from reaching his body.

Kairi racked her brains for the answer. "All that's happened so far is..." The thought struck her like a bolt from the blue (or the orange and the green). She whirled around at Riku. "Knock the weapons out of her hand!"

Riku was puzzled at first, but then realized what Kairi meant. He leapt at Yamikai and swatted an underhand strike at the hand holding the claymore. The girl instinctively loosened her grip enough for Riku to kick it out of her hand. "NOOO!" Yamikai shrieked as the Dawn wielder pirouetted into the air and sliced straight through the disarmed weapon, causing it to self-destruct. Unfortunately, he was rewarded with a bone-crunching strike to his spine with Lexaeus' tomahawk.

"Riku!" Sora shouted. He was still confused, though. What was Kairi talking about? Fortunately, Roxas wasn't as slow-witted as his Somebody was.

_"Haven't you figured it out? Yamikai's weapons can only be summoned once! Once you knock them out of her hand and/or destroy them, she can't summon it again!"_ Roxas was pleased that he knew something that Sora didn't know. _"Why do you think she hasn't summoned Vexen's shield? Or that she was furious when you destroyed the cards and the books?"_

"But what about the kunai or your Keyblades?" Sora wondered.

_"I said if WE disarm her,"_ Roxas explained. _"If she willingly throws them, she can still summon them back to her hands."_

Yamikai was starting to look scared now as she swapped the kunai and tomahawk for Demyx's sitar. "Shut up!" She swung the heavy end toward Sora's skull. However, due to its weight, Sora was able to back away just in time, slapping his Keyblades across Yamikai's wrists. Kairi managed to slide underneath and snag the sitar from her dark half's grip. For the second time that day, she took the weapon over her knee and snapped it in two.

Riku managed to recover from his back-crunching blow and cast Curaga over him and his teammates. Working together, the Destiny Island trio systematically disarmed Yamikai's weaponry from her until she was down to her last weapon. Xemnas' Ethereal Blades shot out of her hands. "I applaud you in figuring it out," she breathed. "But these Ethereal Blades are welded to my hands. And despite your healing, I know you're completely worn out."

Sora, Riku and Kairi couldn't hide the fact that Yamikai spoke the truth. They were breathing heavily as much as she was. A Cure spell would be able to heal all external wounds, but they had used up most of their stamina and didn't have any chances to recharge their magic properly. "We've...gotta keep...keep it...together," Sora huffed. His body seemed to be hovering closer to the ground than usual and his Keyblades behind him were moving sluggishly. A few lucky shots and he would've been defeated.

Kairi didn't know how much longer they could last against this girl. True, they had stripped her of every weapon except Xemnas', but as long as Yamikai held even ONE weapon, they wouldn't be able to finish her off. "We...won't give up," Kairi growled. Both Naminé and Roxas were doing their best to figure out a way to end this battle, but they were both coming up blank.

"What was that you said earlier, Sora?" Riku asked suddenly. "We can't beat her with conventional methods?" Sora and Kairi looked at him curiously. "Penalty game?" the silver-haired teen suggested. Kairi had no idea what he was talking about, but the sly grin on Sora's face meant that he knew exactly what to do.

"Give it up! You three couldn't...HEY!" Sora tackled Yamikai in mid-rant, his Keyblades slowly trailed after him. The Keyblade master and the Princess of Darkness wrestled on the ground for a few seconds, the Ethereal Blades shredding Sora's white outfit. But despite her power, Sora's body was still heavier than hers. Finally, the bushy-haired youth was able to get himself into position by sumo-dropping down on Yamikai's arms while Riku rushed over to pin her legs down. "What are you doing?!" she snarled in surprise. The light sabers retracted back into her palms. "Get off of me!"

"You may possess all of Kairi's strengths," Sora said, "but you also possess her weaknesses too!"

"And since we were always a bit stronger than Kairi," Riku added, "your so-called strength can't lift us."

Kairi suddenly realized what was going on. She slapped her forehead in astonishment. "I totally forgot that you guys..."

Apparently, Yamikai knew exactly what was running through their naughty little minds. "NO! DON'T YOU DARE!" she shrieked. Kairi's dark half struggled furiously, but the combined weight of the boys was too much for her body.

Kairi gave her a hard look as she walked up with a false sense of calm. "Vexen said that my heart wasn't my only vulnerability," the Princess of Heart said as she cracked her knuckles and loosened up her fingers.

"NO! DON'T!" Yamikai screamed. But Kairi paid no mind. Sora and Riku were a bit stunned to see such a serious look on their friend's face. Without a word, Kairi straddled her dark half's body and slowly moved her clawed fingers toward Yamikai's exposed underarms. "NOOO! STAAHAAHAAHAA..." Yamikai's protests quickly dissolved into gut-wrenching laughter. Kairi was slightly amused by this. She hadn't even made contact yet and the anticipation made the pinned girl break down in seconds. There was a slight amount of guilt for what she was doing. But after all the pain and suffering her dark half had caused her, the guilt imploded into nothingness. Her fingers made contact with the smooth surface of baby-soft skin and Kairi was almost bucked off from the violent jerky reaction that exploded from her twin's body.

Undaunted, Kairi set to work on torturing the helpless evil girl that had once been inside her. It was a surreal moment for her. She was literally beside herself and hearing her very own screams of laughter coming out of someone else's mouth. She also took note of the funny expressions her face made as she bucked around, begging and pleading, tears streaking down her face. It felt familiar, but this was different. This wasn't like Vexen when he tickle-tortured her. The entire situation reminded Kairi of her younger days when she used to be gang tickled by everyone else. But this time, the ticklee had become the tickler. And Kairi realized that she was enjoying every second of it.

In the back of their shared consciousness, Naminé found out that she was enjoying being on the other end for once. The "experiments" that she had been forced to bear and here she was finally venting out all of her frustration through Kairi's body. Meanwhile, Riku was busy squeezing around the inner thighs and behind the knees. Although he should've found the entire situation strange and disturbing, he had no problem causing torment like he did to the real Kairi years ago (Mainly he was still sore about being called an emo).

As Kairi's hands traveled down to the ribcage and the sides, Sora replaced her as armpit tickler and began a slow and steady approach. "NAAHAAAHAHAHA! FUHAHAAHAAHA..." Yamikai twisted this way and that, but she was overpowered three-to-one. Kairi suddenly realized what Riku had meant by a "Penalty Game." Yamikai had finally lost this battle and now she was being punished for her actions. Punished with a "Penalty Tickle." That's when Vexen's words finally clicked. The "research" he had claimed to be doing was in actuality giving Yamikai a weak point. Probably to control this girl in case she became too powerful for the Organization to handle or something. A curious thought popped into Kairi's mind. She knew that she was deathly ticklish on her hips. But what if...

Kairi's hands began pinching downward until she reached the hipbone. She gave it a tender squeeze and found herself almost being bucked off by Yamikai's explosive reaction. She also found it slightly amusing yet disturbing to see her own face becoming more pink than her outfit. Kairi's hands gripped as hard as she dared and rapidly squeezed for all its worth as Sora continued the upper body assault. There was no taunting or verbal teasing from the Destiny Island trio. They just tickled and tickled with merciless restraint.

Behind Kairi, Riku had managed to rip off Yamikai's high-heeled boots and socks, exposing her feet. "Calling me an emo, huh?" he grumbled. His fingers just barely grazed the surface of her soles when Yamikai's body made one final buck before going limp from the overstimulation. Her eyes were rolled back and her mouth gaped open as if her very soul had been ripped from her body. The battle was over.

Kairi's dark form finally dissolved back into the darkness from whence it came. Sora, Riku and Kairi sat there in silence, each of them still hearing Yamikai's dying laughter ringing in their ears. After a few quiet seconds, Sora asked Kairi, "You okay?"

The Princess of Heart found herself breathing heavily as if it were her that went through the torture. Suddenly she burst into giggles. "I see why you guys love doing that! That was actually pretty fun!" She let out a sigh of relief.

"So you don't mind us doing it again when we get home?" Sora asked with a sly grin.

"Hell, no!" Kairi snapped, waving a disapproving finger at him. "If you do that to me again, I'm going to get Naminé to rearrange both of your memories!"

_"True 'dat,"_ Naminé added.

* * *

"How much further?" Alice asked the chipmunks.

"Not far!" Dale answered back. The Princesses of Heart, Sora's summons, Queen Minnie and Lady Daisy were all following Pluto and the chipmunks down a secret passageway underneath the Safe Room. After passing through numerous doorways and long staircases, they finally ended up in front of a giant steel door that displayed the King's symbol.

"A dead end?" Cinderella asked. Instead of responding, the chipmunks guided Pluto to a tiny control panel in the bottom-right corner of the door.

Chip and Dale stood up on Pluto's head and cleared their throats. Suddenly they sang out, "Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Chip and Dale's: Rescue Rangers!"

A retro-sounding female voice acknowledged the chipmunk's password. "Voice activation code accepted."

"Nice to hear Gadget's voice again," Chip commented. The heavy steel door retracted upward. The group was blinded by the sudden brightness of the room before them and had to blink a few seconds to readjust their eyes to the light.

The chipmunks waved their arms toward their final destination. "Ta-da!" Everyone was in complete shock at the sight.

"Is this our secret weapon?" Belle wondered in awe.

Chip nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! The King asked us to keep this hidden here in case of a real emergency."

"Like something big threatening Radiant Garden!" Dale added.

"Well, I'd say this would qualify as a real emergency," Chicken Little said, rolling up his sleeves.

"Are you sure this'll work, though?" Lady Daisy questioned. Chip, Dale and Pluto only responded with goofy smiles.

"We just have to trust the King," Queen Minnie stated. She took in the sight of the room. "But in my personal opinion, I'd say this would be more than sufficient."

"Can't let those guys have all the fun, right?" Jasmine giggled.

Belle patted her shoulder. "I'm just glad that we finally get a chance to show them what we're capable of!"

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Genie twirled around in front of them, overjoyed that they would get some action. "Alright ladies and party animals! Let's make some magic happen!"

* * *

The group stood up and brushed themselves off as Riku and Kairi picked up their discarded Keyblades. As Sora stood upright, his Final Formed body automatically began lifted off the ground again. "Is it finally over?" Kairi asked. As if in response, a thick fog rolled out onto the battlefield, blanketing the group. "What's happening?!"

_"I don't like the looks of this,"_ Roxas said. Although tired and weary, the Keyblade wielders stood side by side and got into their battle stances.

"Show yourself!" Sora shouted into the void. At first, the only sound was the teenagers' hearts rapidly thumping against their chests. Then suddenly, a familiar laugh began echoing throughout the arena. It started out quiet, but was soon joined by more hauntingly memorable voices.

Riku's eyes narrowed in recognition. "It's not possible," he muttered.

Kairi glanced over at him. "What's not possible?" She turned her gaze back to the front and stared in horror as familiar shapes began to make themselves clearer in the fog.

THIRTEEN familiar shapes.

_"You've gotta be kidding me!"_ Naminé cried. _"THE ORGANIZATION?!"_ Indeed, thirteen cloaked figures now stood before them, every one of their faces shrouded by their hoods. The one standing in the center pulled back his hood revealing the Superior himself who gave the astonished trio a maniacal grin. Following their leader's example, one by one, the other twelve dropped their hoods, staring at their prey with pitiless expressions. The two groups glared at one another, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

Finally, Xemnas spoke. "We must thank you, Princess."

"For what?" Kairi barked, never taking her eyes off of his face.

Larxene gave her another one of her annoying little giggles. "It hasn't dawned on you yet?"

_"Tell us!"_ Naminé shouted. _"How are all of you here?"_

Larxene wagged a finger mockingly at them. "Oh, but I just HATE spoilers. It'd be a shame if I had to spell it out for you."

"Another game, perhaps?" Luxord chimed in.

"No!" Kairi yelled as she tightened her grip on the Keyblade. "No more games!"

Larxene was about to retort, but Xemnas held up his hand. Not liking being interrupted but not wanting to face the wrath of her Superior, she ended up only pouting. "We used your body as a catalyst to bring back ours," Xemnas explained.

"A Princess of Heart made an excellent vessel," Vexen added. "Your heart, so pure of light, was the ideal container to grow our very essences that were trapped in that cursed electronic prison."

"We warned you," Marluxia said with a grin. "This entire ploy was to test your worthiness of becoming the one person that would bring us back to our full glory."

"That was their master plan all along," Riku realized. "It wasn't the clone of Kairi they were after. It was Kairi's heart!"

"My...heart?" Kairi couldn't believe what she was hearing. But something in what they had said nagged at the back of her mind.

_"It all makes sense now!"_ Naminé cried. _"They tainted our heart with darkness to create Yamikai. She was an avatar that held all of the Organization's powers."_

Roxas gasped. _"But when we defeated Yamikai, all we did was release the Organization's personalities and data into new bodies that they had created for themselves!"_

"You mean to tell me that they used my heart to create bodies for themselves just like you and Naminé were created from Sora's?" Kairi was stunned, but it was too...unthinkable to disprove the point.

_"That would explain all of those heart pangs,"_ Naminé continued. _"The more darkness that seeped into our heart, the more stronger we made them."_

Even Sora understood what she had just said. "So let me get this straight." He took a deep breath. "What you're saying is that Kairi's heart was the oven and the Organization's 'essences' were the buns being baked in there until Yamikai burst out of Kairi's womb as some type of concoction made up of all thirteen members of the Organization and her body became unstable enough to split off into the Organization members that are now standing before us, glaring at us like swiss cheese?"

"What's the matter, Sora?" Kairi asked. "Hungry again?"

Sora's face dropped as a flash of red caught his eye. "Oh, snap." Through Sora's eyes, Roxas was stunned to see...

_"Axel?"_ Roxas wondered. _"Axel, is that really you?"_ But the usually fiery red-head remained silent.

"That's not the only weird thing about this," Sora said. "Look!" At the far end of the line stood an all too-familiar face.

Roxas couldn't believe what he was seeing. _"Is that...me?!"_

Xemnas spread out his arms as if he were a prophet about to preach the fate of the universe. "Unlike the original traitors who abandoned the Organization, I transformed the hearts and minds of those that needed...adjusting into obedient followers, loyal to no end."

"He's right," Riku said. "Look at their expressions." The Axel and Roxas that were staring at them had no flicker of recognition on their faces.

_"No way..."_ Roxas was slightly unnerved at the sight of himself. _"Have my shoulders always been that broad?"_

"Wait a second!" Kairi realized what was bothering her. "You just said from 'that electronic prison.'" Her eyes widened. "You don't mean..."

"Yes! We are no longer inside the dataspace of the computer!" Vexen laughed. "You have been and are standing in the REAL world!"

"And thanks to you, we are finally complete!" Xemnas gloated. "Free to walk the realm of light once more!"

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because from here it looks like you're the same old Nobodies."

Xemnas blinked at the statement. He took another long look at his revived Organization before whipping around at Vexen. "You assured me that using the Princess of Heart as a catalyst would allow us to become whole again!"

Vexen massaged his forehead with his thumb and index finger. "Indeed. We should be complete." He raised an eyebrow. "This is a clearly unexpected development."

Larxene laughed at him. "Figures. Just another of your failed attempts as a scientist."

"Now really, Larxy," Xigbar said. "Haven't you learned to respect your elders yet?"

The Savage Nymph shot a death glare at him. "I told you never to call me 'Larxy!'"

Xigbar rolled his eye. "Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?"

"Enough." Xaldin stared at them with a steely tone in his voice. "Stop acting like you've got hearts to mislead you."

"True, we may not have real hearts," Saix said. "But for the sake of our existence, our purpose must be carried out."

"Ol' Wolfie's right," Axel said with his trademark grin. "Right now we've got only one mission to fulfill." Bursts of flame exploded from his hands as he summoned his chakrams. "And you can commit THIS to memory."

But it was the Organization's Roxas that finished the thought with their true motive. "Revenge." The XIII Order, Organization XIII summoned their weapons, causing the outnumbered Keyblade-wielding teenagers to cringe.

Riku smirked at Sora. "Reminds you of that old wedding tradition, huh?"

Sora nodded. "Something old..." His Ultima Weapon went forth to protect its master.

_"Something new..."_ Roxas indicated the Fateful Encounter that trailed along.

Kairi twirled her Keyblade. "Something borrowed..." She tightened her grip.

"And something blue," Riku finished as he drummed his fingers on the handle of his Way to the Dawn.

_"We are so screwed,"_ Naminé added.


	37. Against the Odds

_"Hey, little dude! Just the person I've been looking for!"_

_"Xiggy? What's the rush?"_

_"Well, I...wait. What exactly are you doing?"_

_"I like to play my sitar. You know that."_

_"That's nice, but can't you do it with your pants on? I mean, come on! Amber-squiggled boxers?"_

_"What? I love amber! Compliments my aqua blue!"_

_"Uh-huh."_

_"Okay, fine. I'll put my pants back on. Happy?"_

_"Yes. Definitely. Anyway, here."_

_"Um...a cup? For what?"_

_"Xemnas' orders. All the members are supposed to fill that cup up with samples for some secret plan of his."_

_"Secret plan?! I love secrets! Tellmetellmetellme! Pleeeease? I'll be your bestest best friend!"_

_"Calm down, little dude. To tell the truth, I don't know myself. He's being extremely secretive about this one. Saix tried asking and he got sent to bathroom duty."_

_"Ouch. Saix? Bathroom duty? That seems a bit harsh."_

_"Considering the Superior treats him more like his number two than me, it means that he's totally serious about it. But..."_

_"Yeah?"_

_"I **DO** know that Vexen is in on this. If I had to guess, I'd say that he believes there's a slim chance that the brat with the Keyblade might actually manage to defeat us and he just needs samples from us for a backup just in case."_

_"Is he..."_

_"...off his rocker? Xemnas? Pfft! As if. He may be spending a lot of time in the Room of Sleep lately, but there's always a method to his madness."_

_"Hmm...so about this cup. Everyone's done this already?"_

_"Well, Xemnas had Axel's sample from very early on. And he got samples from the members that were stationed at Castle Oblivion beforehand. But the new kid..."_

_"Who? Roxas? What exactly has he been up to anyway?"_

_"Who knows? The Superior keeps sending him out to collect more hearts with Axel. I haven't seen him around for so long that I almost forgot what he looked like."_

_"Well, that stinks. I kinda wanted to get to know him better."_

_"Eh. Leave him be. I think he's already got enough pressure on him as it is."_

_"So you think that the Superior might be right in taking precautions?"_

_"Well, I've got to admit. This plan seems a bit desperate, even for him. But if Roxas is any indicator of how good the real deal is, it wouldn't hurt."_

_"Okay, but...when you mean sample, do you..."_

_"Oh, yeah. Drop your drawers and let 'er fly."_

_"What?! Now?! B-b-but, I can't perform like this! Can't you leave and come back later?"_

_"Relax, Demyx. It's just a sample, not a drug test. And besides, your element is water. Going shouldn't be a problem for you."_

* * *

_"We're gonna die, aren't we?"_ Naminé asked. No one bothered to answer as the Keyblade wielders competed in the staredown of the decade as both sides waited for the other to make a move.

_"This is just too weird,"_ Roxas commented as he glanced at his Org self through Sora's eyes. _"It's like looking in some weird funhouse mirror."_

"The only difference is that he's better looking," Sora teased.

Riku gave him a sideways glance. "Not the time, Sora."

Suddenly, Xemnas barked out, "Xigbar! Zexion!" The Organization's number two and six stepped forward, auras of power emanating from them. Before they knew what was happening, a slow, blinding haze of white engulfed the Keybladers vision. When the light finally subsided, the Destiny Island trio found themselves standing in the middle of a spacious, barren chasm save some giant rock formations littering the new arena. Brown, rocky cliffs surrounded the battlefield as far as the eye could see. It almost looked like a surreal desert painting, as if centuries had taken its toll to form the naturally eroded landscape. The Organization members were nowhere to be seen.

A heart-shaped moon hung in the sky, blanketing the area with an eerie blue radiance. It reminded Kairi of the Organization's undamaged Kingdom Hearts as she felt a slight energy force pulsating from it. "Where are we? What is this place?" Kairi wondered.

_"Is this some sort of illusion?"_ Naminé asked.

Sora laughed. "It's gotta be! That guy with the book has the power of illusion, right?" He floated calmly up to one of the rock formations. "Watch!" Sora took one of his Keyblades and swung, expecting the weapon to pass through air. It came as a shock as the blade smacked against the rock, flecks of gravel fell away from the impact.

Riku crossed his arms and shook his head. "Zexion created the illusion, but Xigbar can manipulate space." A grim frown appeared on his face. "It kinda makes you wonder if events would've happened differently if they had fought together like they are now instead of against each other."

Kairi's eyes widened. "Are you saying we don't have a chance?"

"Other than Luxord, Sora wasn't able to take any of them on individually by himself and I wasn't able to finish Zexion or Lexaeus alone either." Riku's eyes were still constantly scanning the area as he said this. "I think the only person who could actually turn the tide of this battle is you."

Kairi gave a nervous laugh. "You're joking, right?" When she saw that Riku wasn't kidding, her bottom lip quivered from nerves. "But I had Naminé to back me up all of those times."

_"And vice versa,"_ Naminé added.

"You're a lot stronger than you believe, Kairi." The Princess' face slightly flushed at Sora's praise. "You might not think so, but look at what you've accomplished over the day. Your power's grown and you have abilities that neither me or Riku could ever hope to duplicate." Sora flashed his charming smile at her. "Face it, Kairi, you're a true Keyblade master now." Kairi was in a state of shock. She was so completely taken back by Sora's compliments that all she could do was start giggling like a girl with a crush.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Kinda laying it on a little thick, aren't you?"

_"You know how Sora is with girls by now,"_ Roxas said. _"A real charmer when he doesn't think about it..."_

"_...and a complete spaz when he does,"_ Naminé finished.

**"LOOK OUT!"** Riku shouted suddenly. Giant shockwaves of earth and lunar flames formed by the berserk fury of Saix and Lexaeus blazed in from different directions. The trio barely had enough time to scatter themselves out of the way as the force of the attacks crossed each other and obliterated the rock that they had been standing next to.

_"Looks like the final boss battle's begun,"_ Kairi thought. As she landed on her feet, Kairi felt a presence behind her. Her body reacting on instinct, Kairi swung the Keyblade around parallel to her body and managed to deflect Larxene's strike. "Not you again!" the Princess grunted. Undaunted, Larxene slashed at her with relentless ferocity, forcing Kairi to backpedal quickly to maintain her balance.

"What's the matter, girl?" Larxene teased. "Tired of playing the heroine?" Sparks leapt from her body with malicious intent. "Well, nighty-nighty, you sham!" The Nymph let loose an electrifying whirlwind kick that caught Kairi full in the stomach. A powerful jolt shot throughout the redhead's nerve endings as she felt the air in her lungs being roughly forced out of her, sending the teenager collapsing to her knees.

Before she could gulp in fresh air, Kairi felt herself slammed off her feet by a giant ball of wind. Her limbs flailed helplessly about as she soared through the air. Diving in to continue his combo, Xaldin dove in and slashed his lances in a sweeping motion, tearing a deep gash across Kairi's side. The Princess hit the ground rolling, clouds of dust appeared in her wake. With her muscles aching in the process, she struggled to get up on one knee. Becoming aware of a slight stinging sensation where Xaldin had just cut her, Kairi looked down and saw that the wound was more serious than she thought as it began to bleed freely.

"What's the big idea, Xaldin?" Larxene shouted, glaring at the hovering Whirlwind Lancer. "She was mine!"

Xaldin only grinned. "You were going too easy on her, Larxene. She should be fought with the seriousness that she deserves."

"Butt out!" Larxene snarled. "You'll get your chance when I'm done with her!"

As they were busy arguing, Kairi could only clutch at her side, pinching her skin together with one hand in hopes of having her injury scab over quickly. "That dirty rotten..." she growled.

_"Kairi!"_ Naminé cried. _"We've got to heal!"_ Kairi nodded and started to raise her Keyblade. Unfortunately for her, she had momentarily forgotten Larxene's abilities and paid for her carelessness by being smashed across the side of her face by a black boot, causing her to fall unceremoniously flat on her butt. Although her vision was slightly blurred from the dirt and tears in her eyes, Kairi could make out that the assailant was none other than another Larxene clone.

The original Larxene broke off from her argument with Xaldin and let out her trademark giggle. "Oopsie!" she laughed as she merged back with her double. "Looks like the widdle pwincess fell on her bum-bum!"

As agonizing as it felt, Kairi staggered up to her feet. "We're not through yet, witch," she growled as she wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. "Time to get serious." That's when she felt her entire body freeze up. "What the..." Everything around her seemed to grow and stretch out until she realized that she had been transformed into a die once again. "Oh, for the love of..."

As if on cue, the Gambler of Fate flipped in out of the shadows and landed right in front of her. _"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me,"_ Luxord quoted.

"Again with the freakin' Shakespeare..." Kairi groaned as she struggled to move. "What's the matter? You can't quote Twain?"

He tapped a corner of Kairi's Dice Form with the toe of his boot. "It seems the odds are finally in our favor, Princess." In Kairi's limited vision, she could see Larxene running up to her and pulling back her leg, fully intending to boot her. Kairi braced herself for the unforgiving impact...

**"BACK OFF!"** Sora flew in like a Nikita missile and tackled Larxene, ramming her with such barrier breaking velocity that they both ended up exploding straight into a canyon wall. When the dust cleared, Larxene's face was written with surprise at the intense glare of Sora, but quickly regained her arrogant composure.

"Just as I remembered," Larxene taunted. "A brainless idiot with..." Her sentence was cut short as Sora interrupted her with a flash kick to her jaw. As the Nymph exercised her mandibles, Sora hovered there with his fists clenched and an intense glare, no pity or remorse in his eyes. Larxene wasn't laughing anymore. She clenched the kunai between her fingers and summoned giant bolts of lightning at where Sora stood.

_**"DEFEND!"**_ Sora's body was encased within a crystal sphere of light, absorbing the energy from the attack before instantly exploding outward, hitting Larxene back with her own strength. As the last of his Reflega spell vanished, Sora charged in and began walloping both Keyblades on her. The Nymph deflected as much of the onslaught as she could, but Sora's wielding speed had ultimately increased since the last time she had fought him.

"What's the matter?" Larxene huffed. "Pissed off that I was about to hurt your girlfriend again?" Although the clashing lasted only seconds, eventually she had enough and shot out another vicious kick to his midsection. Sora telepathically ordered his Keyblades to parry the attack. However, sensing an attack from behind that Sora wasn't aware of, the Keyblades disobeyed their master's orders and rushed to defend Sora's back leaving his front wide open.

**WHAM!** The Keyblade wielder was hurtled backward as he felt the wind knocked out of him. With no friction to slow him down, Sora ended up crashing straight into Marluxia, whose scythe had been pushing against the two Keyblades when he tried to sneak attack from behind. As both Marluxia and Sora got to their feet, the Graceful Assassin glared past Sora at Larxene. "Do you mind?"

The blonde smirked and made a mocking bow. "He's all yours, Marly." Marluxia grinned at Sora.

"Your heart may have protected you this far, boy." He twirled the scythe in his hands as flower petals swirled around him. "But you are no match for the full power of the Organization!" Marluxia rushed at Sora with his weapon raised.

"Let's go, you transvestite," Sora said as he reciprocated the charge, his Keyblades swinging back into a forward position.

* * *

Riku had managed to evade Saix and Lexaeus long enough for him to get to Kairi. Before Xaldin or Luxord could react, Riku snagged Kairi's Dice Form in-between his hands with a "Yoink!" As he turned to run, the dice he was clutching began to twitch, causing him to almost lose his grip on Kairi. "Will you stop squirming?" It came to a surprise when he heard Kairi giggling. "What's so funny?" Riku asked seriously.

"Yo-ho-ho-ur ha-hands! Th-they're t-t-tickling meeehehehe!" Kairi shrieked.

Riku immediately shifted his grip so Kairi was being clutched underneath his arm. "That better?"

Kairi let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Riku." After a few seconds, the dice disintegrated and Kairi returned to her human form. Unfortunately, her body had reappeared backward, so that her behind was thrust forward, and Riku's arm was wrapped around her chest. As she bounced around, Kairi's face reddened slightly at the fact that her butt was exposed and Riku's forearm was causing an uncomfortable feeling the longer it remained where it was. "Um, Riku? You can let me down now."

Riku looked down in surprise as he finally noticed Kairi was back to normal. He screeched to a halt and set her back on her feet. "Sorry about that," he murmured. Kairi self-consciously brushed herself off and realized that her bleeding wound had finally scabbed over and no longer stung. She started to thank Riku, but his head suddenly jerked up and he roughly shoved Kairi away from him. Seconds later, Riku was enveloped in a puff of smoke and trapped within one of Zexion's books. Kairi started towards him, but Riku shouted, "I'll be fine! Just go help Sora!"

The Princess of Heart hesitated. Usually Riku's plans worked because he knew his opponents well enough to counter them. But at this point in time, Kairi felt she knew more about the Organization's attacks than he did. Despite his protests, Kairi took a giant leap and used her Keyblade to cut through the book cleanly like a hot knife through butter. Shreds of paper scattered out everywhere as Riku was released from his imprisonment. Kairi grinned at Riku. "And you said you'd be fine."

But Riku gave her a stern look. "I thought I told you to help Sora! Now look!" He pointed over to his right. Kairi followed his gaze and she instantly felt her jaw drop. While she had been freeing Riku, Sora had been ganged up on by Marluxia, Xaldin and Luxord. Riku beckoned Kairi to follow him. "Come on!" The two of them hurriedly made their way for Sora.

* * *

Despite Sora's best attempts at defending himself, his efforts were futile as the Keyblades couldn't keep up with all three opponents at once. _"Question?"_ Roxas muttered. _"How exactly are we getting our butt kicked? I mean, we've went up against 1000 Heartless at once! Three Organization members shouldn't be that hard to take down!"_

"Not...helping!" Sora grunted as he felt Marluxia's scythe whiz by, buzzing off the top of his bushy hair. Not knowing what else to do, he tucked his arms and legs in. _**"DEFEND!"**_ Casting the Reflega spell again allowed him to maintain temporary invincibility and eventually knocked the gang bangers away from him, giving him enough breathing room to High Jump into the air and Glide away towards Riku and Kairi. Unfortunately, the skies were no longer a safe haven for him.

"Take this!" Out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw Xigbar aiming his gun arrows at him from atop a rock formation. His neon blue Charge Shot sped straight for the Gliding teenager, forcing Sora to drop straight down into the waiting form of Demyx, who had his sitar reared back. Sora tried to regain his Glide, but he had already dropped too far into range.

**THWACK!** Agonizing pain shot throughout his body as Sora felt the sitar crack straight into his spine. "What's the matter, traitor?" Demyx taunted. "No more quips in you?" Sora was about to Aerial Dodge back upright, but before he could react, a pillar of flame burst out of the ground, blasting Sora with intense heat. His entire world was a whirling blur as his flailing body spun around and around in the air.

"What's the problem?" Roxas' heart skipped a beat as the familiar voice of Axel reached their ears. As Sora struggled to regain his bearings, the fiery redhead came riding into view on a wave of fire, his chakrams at the ready. "C'mere! I'll make it all stop!"

_"Axel!"_ Roxas cried. Sora's body began to pulsate with white light as Roxas tried to take over.

"Roxas, don't do it!" Sora cried. "If we switch, we'll..." But he was talking to a brick wall as Roxas' sole thought was to get Axel to recognize him. An internal struggle took place as Sora tried to retain his Final Form while Roxas was trying to get out.

_"I know he'll recognize me!"_ Roxas said excitedly. _"Just let me try!"_

Riku, Kairi and Naminé saw what was going on and tried to quicken their pace. _"Roxas, no!"_ Naminé yelled. _"That's not Axel!"_

"Roxas...stop..." Sora groaned. But his other half wouldn't listen.

_"I know I can do it!"_ After a few seconds, the exhausted Sora felt the control slip from him as Roxas reappeared in the physical world. Of course, without Sora, the Keyblades no longer had Final Form to sustain their automation, causing them to clatter onto the ground, their life taken away from them. "Axel!" Roxas shouted. "Don't you recognize me?" The two of them stared at each other for a moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity.

Finally, Axel said, "You're Roxas..." Roxas let out a sigh of relief. However, his heart sank when Axel finished with, "...but you're not **OUR** Roxas." Roxas barely had enough time to summon the Keyblades _"Winner's Proof"_ and _"Fated Encounter"_ back to his hands before Axel blitzed in and swiped a chakram at the teenager's midsection.

Kairi and Riku's rush to help was suddenly halted when Zexion came gliding into their path. His expression emotionless as always, the lexicon in his hand floated up a few inches and faced towards them, its cover beginning to open. "Kairi! Get behind me!" Riku ordered. As Kairi hastened to obey, the Nobody's seal formed in front of Zexion and began to glow. "Just have to time this right," the Dawn warrior muttered.

_**"Fio libri vultus!"**_ The seal flashed as Zexion attempted to trap Riku and Kairi in book form.

But this time Riku was ready. He shot his hand forward. _**"Dark Shield!"**_ Almost like Sora's Reflega, a wall of light made up of small polygons appeared in front of him, deflecting and negating the spell. Before Zexion could glide away and try again, Kairi leapt out from behind Riku and fired a Blizzaga at him. Zexion instinctively raised his Lexicon to block the attack. Unfortunately for him, the spell caused his weapon to become completely encased in ice, rendering it unusable. As he struggled to get it open, Kairi and Riku rushed past the Cloaked Schemer.

_"That's one down!"_ Naminé shouted enthusiastically. However, her optimism was cut short when the Organization's Roxas immediately leapt out of nowhere and into their path. To make matters worse, Vexen serenely glided in from behind them, cutting off their escape route. Kairi and Riku stood back to back as the two Organization members began to circle them.

"I'll take Roxas while you take care of Vexen," Riku said.

Kairi gave a nervous laugh. "Um, could we switch?" Expectedly, Riku had already charged at Roxas before she could finish her sentence. She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, trying not to look at Vexen's wrinkled old face.

"Well, Princess," Vexen chuckled. "Are you ready for another round?" The very sound of his voice sent chills throughout her body. Kairi mustered up her courage and gave the Chilly Academic a hard look.

"Give it a rest, Goldilocks," Kairi snapped. "Just because you figured out my weakness, doesn't mean you've already won the fight." She held her Keyblade steady in front of her. "Nice job on giving Yamikai my weaknesses by the way. It made it so much sweeter to dish out the same punishment that you gave me."

Vexen raised an eyebrow. "So you enjoyed it, yes?" He let out his signature bone-chilling laugh. "Then why do you fear it? Is it the loss of control? The feeling of helplessness? You don't feel the sensual thrill pumping through your loins when..."

"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa whoa whoa...whoa!" Kairi couldn't help but look disgusted at him. "What is wrong with you?! How the hell do you live with yourself, you perverted pedobear?!" She swung the Keyblade for emphasis as she shouted, "I don't care if it feels like crushed ice! One way or another I'm going to tear that thing off and puree it!"

Vexen made a mocking bow. "By all means, you're welcome to try." Enraged by the old geezer's pervertedness, Kairi tightened the grip on her Keyblade and charged with intense ferocity.

* * *

Riku and Org Roxas circled each other with their Keyblades ready scanning each other, waiting for an opening. "Well, this brings back memories," Riku said. "Only difference this time is that I've finally got a Keyblade of my own to fight with." Roxas only responded with a cold, icy stare. Riku raised an eyebrow. "What? The Organization not give you a personality?" he mocked. Finally, Roxas stopped in his tracks.

"For the glory of the Organization..." He tucked the Keyblades under his arms. "...your heart shall be shattered." Riku was only given a split-second to jump before Org Roxas whipped out his Keyblades crying **"TAKE THAT!"**, forming a slashing whirlwind of energy that surrounded his body, slicing into anything within a twenty foot radius. A couple of rock formations behind him split in half, toppling over like cherries on a sundae.

As Riku landed on his feet ready to strike, Roxas suddenly transformed into pure white light and easily dodged Riku's swing. "What the..." Riku's eyes could barely keep locked on Roxas as the Org member quickly zigzagged around him before retaining human form and began pummeling away at Riku. The Dawn wielder was slightly taken back from the ferociousness of his opponent and managed to break off the assault by ducking underneath and attempting a sweep kick. Roxas saw it coming and immediately backflipped out of range, landing back into his battle stance without missing a beat. "So you have a few new abilities," Riku said, brushing some dirt off his shoulder. "Doesn't mean anything if you can't connect."

Org Roxas only narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, a Nobody symbol made of light appeared hovering in the air a few feet above his head. Not wanting to find out what was about to happen, Riku took the initiative and fired a stream of Dark Auras at Roxas. Before they could get near him though, the Nobody symbol split off into multiple copies, each of them shooting a shaft of piercing blue light that cut deep into the brown, cracked earth, negating Riku's attack.

"Okay..." Riku couldn't believe his eyes. "...that's different." The beams circled around Roxas, protecting him within a cage of light. Riku hesitated, unsure of how to counter. The lasers burst out in every direction, slicing through anything in their path. What was left of an already damaged rock formation a few feet away ended up cleaved.

Another stray laser managed to snip off some of Vexen's dirty-blond locks from behind, causing him to belt out a girlish shriek. "Hey! Do you mind?!" he yelled at the Roxas clone. Roxas promptly ignored him and sped off toward Riku in his white light form.

Beam after beam zigzagged across the ground at Riku, forcing him to go on the defensive. It didn't help matters when the black cloaked Roxas came blitzing in with Keyblades swinging. As a laser clipped off a piece of his shoelace, Riku's mind was a whirling dynamo as he struggled to find a way to attack back. Unfortunately, he was so focused on the lasers that Riku didn't notice Roxas come flipping towards him from behind, Oathkeeper and Oblivion sticking out like spikes on a hedgehog. Only noticing his opponent's presence at the last moment, Riku felt unbearable pain shoot throughout his nerve endings as Roxas' Keyblades smashed into his collarbones. The silver-haired teenager grunted as the sudden shock to his system caused his Way to the Dawn to slip uselessly from his fingers and clatter to the ground below. Unable to use his arms to balance his body weight, Riku ended up crashing down to earth, landing roughly flat on his back.

"Riku!" Kairi began to run towards him, but Vexen annoyingly glided into her path, forcing her to stop in her tracks.

"Going somewhere?" Kairi was feeling extremely ticked off by the smug attitude he was giving her. "Before worrying about your _'friends,'_ you should be more concerned about yourself."

_"Kairi, above you!"_ Naminé shouted. Kairi glanced up and saw Saix's silhouette against the bright backdrop of the moon come barreling down toward her. She backflipped out of the way as Saix's claymore slammed into the ground, blue shockwaves streaking out from impact.

Vexen whirled around on Saix with a sour expression. "What do you think you're doing, Saix?"

"You're taking too long to disable her!" Saix roared ferociously under the influence of the heart-shaped moon glowing eerily above them.

"I don't remember asking for your help!" Vexen snapped back.

Saix's pupils contracted with berserk rage. "You're letting your emotions cloud your reasoning again, Vexen!" he snarled. "It shouldn't be taking this long to defeat someone who's worn out, let alone three of them!"

Vexen chuckled. "My emotions are in check, thank you very much. But what about yours?"

_"Quick, while they're arguing!"_ Naminé whispered urgently. Kairi quickly hoofed it toward Riku with a Curaga spell ready.

Meanwhile, Riku lay sprawled out on the ground, his silvery-gray hair scattered over his face. As soon as feeling came back into his arms, he rolled to his stomach and used his legs to push himself up to his feet. With his collarbone smashed, it was agonizing to even lift his arms. "Grrr..." Riku expected Org Roxas to continue his assault, but fortunately, Number 13 only stood there, waiting for Riku to pick up his weapon. Riku would've smirked if he weren't in pain. _'Guess this Roxas actually has some honor in him,'_ he thought to himself. And then Kairi came running in.

_**"HEAL!"**_ Kairi let out a sigh of relief as she felt her entire body becoming smooth and whole again. Looking down at her injury, she watched as the scabbed over tissue disintegrated into new skin. Of course, her outfit remained ripped. She also felt the dirt and sweat still layered over her body, especially in the creases which made it uncomfortable to move around.

Saix and Vexen broke off from their spat and were slightly shocked that they had let Kairi go unnoticed. "Fool!" Saix roared at Vexen. "You see what happened?!"

"Appreciate it, Kairi," Riku thanked, "but that leaves us at a disadvantage." With the pain subsided, he snatched up his Keyblade and quickly assessed the situation. In his peripherals, he noticed Lexaeus running towards their position. Roxas' double was preparing for another attack. Vexen and Saix began storming in. Zexion was still trying to chip the ice off of his lexicon. Xigbar and Xemnas were nowhere to be seen. Kairi used up her magic. And the rest of the Organization was busy observing the real Roxas fight to the death with Axel. Even with half the Org out of the picture, Riku and Kairi were still outnumbered two-to-one. Not knowing what else to do, Riku said, "Wrap your arms around my neck and don't let go."

"What are you..." Before Kairi could finish her question, Riku pulled his weapon back and fired off a bombardment of Dark Auras straight into the ground. Heaping clouds of dust began to form and blanket the Organization members who were about to pounce on the two Keyblade wielders.

All that was heard in the next few seconds were great fits of coughing and the line "Where'd they go?"

Under the cover of dust, Riku had managed to make his way onto a rock formation beyond the Org's current field of vision. He gripped the tip of the rock with his free hand, letting his weapon hand drop loosely to his side. Kairi hung onto Riku with as much will as she could muster. To make it slightly easier, she managed to plant a foothold with her inside leg as to take some of her weight off of Riku.

As the two hung there with their heads above the clouds, Naminé sighed in a hopeless tone, _"This is starting to look impossible."_

"There's gotta be a way to win this," Kairi murmured.

Riku only shook his head. "If there is, I'm not seeing it."

_"Well, it's official,"_ Naminé said. _"If Riku can't figure out something, you know we're screwed."_

* * *

"Are you sure, Tron?" Leon asked. "You're reading more life signatures now?"

Without tearing his eyes off of the screen, Tron gave a curt nod. "One of Kairi's readings have disappeared, but in its place are thirteen more."

Donald looked extremely worried. "The Organization?"

"But I thought we were monitoring the real world now..." Yuffie said.

"I considered it being another glitch, but there's no doubt this time." Tron's eyes narrowed. "There are a total of sixteen occupants in the room below us."

Tidus was coping with freaking out by pulling at his hair. "Come on, Pence!" he yelled impatiently. "Can't you type any faster?"

Pence only gritted his teeth. "Unless you want to try hacking this yourself," he snapped, "I suggest you keep quiet and let the professionals do their job!"

Tidus was taken back by the usually calm boy's outburst. "Man, what crawled up y..." Before he could finish his sentence, Selphie and Olette yanked him away by the ears.

"He's doing the best he can," Hayner said, defending his friend. "That's all we can hope for."

"Aerith?" Cloud noticed Aerith looking slightly pale. "What's wrong?" She took a couple of slow, deep breaths before looking straight up into his eyes.

"You don't feel it?" She placed her hands over her left breast. "Their hearts' strength...it's fading."

"See?!" Tidus shouted. "They're in trouble!" He broke away from the girls and was about to start choking Pence with enthusiasm, but Wakka managed to hold him back.

Selphie placed her hands on her hips. "Calm down!" She didn't know what else to say. "We all want to help them, but right now, all we can do is wait."

At that moment, Pence slammed the keyboard with his hands and let out a groan of frustration. Turning away from the screens, he began rubbing his eyes. "I just don't get it..."

The kids looked at him with weary concern. "What's up?" Hayner asked.

"I've tried using everything I could think of, but the system just doesn't have enough power to teleport all of us at once!" He massaged his temples. "Most of the power's being diverted to the shields!"

"Wait..." Selphie gave Pence a look. "You've been trying to get all of us there at once? As a unified group?" Pence nodded. Selphie exchanged a glance with Olette who seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

"What's the maximum amount of people that you'd be able to transport at a time?" Olette asked.

Pence shrugged. "I don't know. Probably three or four at a time..." Olette smirked as it finally dawned on him. He smacked his forehead. "Duh! Of course!" Pence whirled around back at the monitors. "Just give me a few more minutes!" he said excitedly. "I've got it now!"

Tidus grinned. "Does that mean..." Sensing his friend wasn't struggling anymore, Wakka let go of him. Excited, Tidus began to rub his hand along the handle of his sword.

Selphie stood to her full height and shouted, "Everyone! It's time!" There was no hesitation as the entire room filled with clinks and clanks, the comrades preparing themselves for battle.

"Sora...Riku...Kairi..." King Mickey had never looked more serious than he did right now. "Hold on. We're coming..."

* * *

"How long do you think you can do your imitation of Spider-Man, Riku?" Kairi asked.

Riku gave her a cocky smirk. "As long as I need to," he replied. Although his calm demeanor sounded like there was no problem, it was obvious by the way his arm was shaking that he was getting tired. "Have either of you come up with a plan yet?"

"We should be able to beat these guys, right?" Kairi felt her palms becoming slightly sweaty from having to maintain her grip around Riku's neck. "I mean, Sora's been able to do this with three people. Why can't we?"

_"Maybe because we're still outnumbered four to one?"_ Naminé guessed rhetorically.

"How about this time, you take Vexen and I'll take Roxas?" Kairi suggested.

Riku gritted his teeth as he felt his hold beginning to slip. "Look, I know Vexen scares you two, but you've already beaten him once. You can do it again!"

Kairi was about to retort when a slight movement of neon purple caught her eye. _"Look out!"_ Naminé cried.

The unmistakable shape of Xigbar's gun arrows were aiming straight at Riku's free arm. The Freeshooter chuckled. "Gotcha now!" Before they could react, the projectiles pierced Riku's skin, forcing the teenager to let go which sent both him and Kairi plummeting to the ground once more. "Found them!" Xigbar called to the other members. Poking his hands through separate wormholes, Xigbar's disembodied appendages pointed the Org at Kairi and Riku's location.

It took a few moments for Kairi to regain her bearings._ "Well that could've gone better,"_ she thought. The first thing she noticed was that for some odd reason, her face was buried in denim. Pushing herself up, Kairi realized in horror that she had landed face first into Riku's crotch. "Oh my gawd! Riku! Are you okay?!"

Writhing in agony, all Riku could do was wheeze out a weak "I'm fine..." Unsure of what to do, Kairi threaded her hands under Riku's arms and attempted to lift him to his feet. The sudden sound of footsteps made her head snap up as the Organization members came rushing toward them.

"Come on! Can't you recover any faster?" she grunted, struggling to keep Riku upright.

Riku bit his tongue to prevent himself from screaming obscenities at her. "This is more painful than you can imagine, Kairi," he said through gritted teeth. Then under his breath he added, "You try growing a pair sometime..."

_"Hey, compared to childbirth, I don't see what you're complaining about,"_ Naminé replied.

"And what would you know about being pregnant?" Riku countered. "Have you told Roxas yet?" He stopped himself and shook his head. "Man, I'm starting to sound like Sora." As soon as he could stand under his own power, Riku aimed his Keyblade at the charging members and fired off a line of Dark Auras in the hopes of slowing them down.

Unfortunately, they were ready this time. "A simple sleight of hand..." Luxord summoned up giant cards to intercept Riku's barrage, rendering the attack useless. "...and the deck must be cut again." The other members stared at him.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Vexen shouted.

Luxord shrugged. "I use card game clichés. It's what I do." Instead of standing like anime idiots waiting to get hit, Riku and Kairi made a mad dash towards the dueling Roxas and Axel.

* * *

Roxas was attempting to fight back by using his Keyblades to parry and counter Axel's attacks. "Geez, I don't remember him ever being this serious!" Roxas groaned.

_"This was a bad idea, Roxas,"_ Sora said nervously. _"I don't think I've got enough strength to use Final Form again."_

Using his trademark quickness, Axel quickly circled around behind Roxas and let his chakrams fly. Being extremely familiar with this move, Roxas pirouetted backward into the air, flipping up and over the attack, twisting his body to face his opponent intending to bring down Winner's Proof down on Axel's head before the chakrams could return. Unluckily, Roxas ended up being completely blindsided by Demyx, who came riding straight into him along a wave of water pillars, knocking the Keyblade wielder out of his natural trajectory. "Gotcha now!" Demyx cried gleefully.

Roxas rolled across the dirty terrain, his white clothes becoming caked with brown earth. Eventually able to bring himself to a halt, the disoriented Twilight Keybearer struggled up to his feet. "Sora, why didn't you warn me?" he muttered angrily.

_"I'm still not used to being back here!"_ Sora replied defensively. _"He just came out of nowhere!"_ As he shook the cobwebs out to clear his vision, Roxas looked up and couldn't help moaning out loud in disbelief as he found himself royally screwed. On one side, Demyx had summoned a wall of water pillars that began to burst its way closer. On his other side, Axel had summoned a wall of fire pillars that mirrored their water counterparts, effectively trapping Roxas. At one end between the two walls, Larxene's body was crackling with electricity as she barred one of the escape routes, grinning like a lion who finally had cornered her prey. And to finish off the perilous situation, Xaldin had appeared on the other end riding atop his dragon; its jaws opened wide as it charged up for its Winds of Despair.

Roxas groaned as the inevitable conclusion struck him. "Oh, f-" In one giant elemental burst of power, Roxas' entire body was bombarded with fire, water, thunder and wind all at once.

**"ROXAS!"** Kairi, Naminé and Riku froze in their tracks, watching helplessly as Roxas' body flew end over end through the air. Sora's Nobody ended up slamming painfully into a rock formation and plummeted to the ground. After crashing into the hard, barren earth, his entire body lay limp like a rag doll. Unable to maintain his focus, Roxas' clothes and features melted and shifted themselves back into Sora. Although Sora's body was repaired from damage, he had absolutely no energy left and was now too exhausted to even move a finger. The Keyblades had merged back together and reverted back to its default Kingdom Key state.

"We did it!" Demyx shouted, pumping his fist enthusiastically. "We finally beat him!"

"That's enough Demyx," Xaldin replied curtly. "Merging back with his other self has made him sentimental and weak. Unfitting for one whose potential had to be halted so early."

Larxene laughed. "Whatever gets the job done. Besides..." She walked up to Sora's limp form and gave him a sharp kick. "I never liked this brat anyway."

Kairi's pupils contracted at the sight of Larxene kicking her boyfriend. **"YOU WITCH!"** Before Riku could stop her, the enraged Princess of Heart blitzed at Larxene.

"Kairi, wait!" Riku started after her, but he had temporarily forgotten about the other Organization members that were chasing after them. Trying to move his feet, his eyes widened when he realized that his legs had become encased in ice. Rotating his upper body to look behind him, his face fell as the black-cloaked Roxas, Lexaeus and Saix all leapt at Riku with their weapons raised. Although he usually wouldn't have panicked, the unmistakable power coming at him had finally struck fear into his heart. "Damn it!" Riku cursed as he tried to desperately chip away at the ice holding him imprisoned. "Not like this! I won't go down like this!" In a last ditch attempt, he fired Dark Aura after Dark Aura at his opponents, bombarding them with everything he had. Riku's efforts were in vain as his projectiles were easily deflected and knocked away.

Ten seconds later and it was all over for Riku. Beaten, battered, and bruised, he collapsed to the ground, dust clouds rolling up from his body on impact.

_**"RIKU!"**_ Naminé shrieked. The sheer terror in her tone caused Kairi to screech to a halt. She whirled around and was stunned at the sight of her friend's fallen form. She tried to convince herself that it was all an illusion. It was unthinkable that someone as powerful as Riku was taken down and out of the fight. But the truth hit her full in the face as Kairi realized that there was no one else left to help them. She was fully naked and exposed, completely vulnerable to whatever the Organization could come up with.

Larxene shoveled up Sora with the toe of her boot and kicked his raggedy form at Kairi, the body landing with a small grunt at the Princess' feet. "Well, girl? You must be delusional if you think you can take all of us on at once by yourself!"

"Empty words from an empty shell..." Kairi growled. She got into her battle stance as Organization XIII surrounded her in a large circle. It didn't matter which way she turned, there was no escaping from this one. Out of magic, out of stamina, and finally out of luck. That was her situation. "If I'm going down..." Kairi took a deep breath to calm her shaking grip. "...I'm going out fighting!" The entire area became pitch black as every Organization member began to charge up for their Desperation Moves...

**"WAIT!"** The sky brightened again. "Stop using your DMs at the same time!" Xemnas' voice rang out. "You might end up hitting each other!"

Xigbar glanced upward at Xemnas who was standing atop one of the cliffs looming over the arena. "Hey, Superior! You gonna come down here?"

Xaldin crossed his arms and raised a bushy eyebrow. "Why aren't you down here with the rest of us?"

"Do not question your Superior!" Xemnas snapped. "I will come down there when I am needed!"

_"Geez, no wonder Marluxia wanted to overtake the Organization,"_ Naminé muttered. _"Being able to cower back during a battle and sending your underlings to fight for you must be a real appealing upside to being a leader."_

"Well, the thing about cowards is they usually manage to stay alive," Kairi replied.

Luxord stroked his beard in thought. "As much as I hate to admit it, these girls have a point. Why don't you ever fight alongside us?"

"Because I can turn the lot of you into Dusks," Xemnas responded wearily. When the other members only stared up at him, the Superior's eyes narrowed for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. "Fine. If that is what it takes." He leapt from his perch and glided down to complete the circle surrounding Kairi. "No more complaints about me not being involved." His Ethereal Blades shot out of his hands as Kairi braced herself. Knowing there was no chance that she would survive anyway, a warrior's battle cry erupted from her throat as Kairi leapt fearlessly at Xemnas, her Keyblade shinning palely under the moonlight.

The next couple of minutes ended up being more like a slaughter than an actual fight as Organization XIII beat every inch of her body with a weapon (or in Larxene's case, a boot) along with a few strikes at her private areas (_"Vexen,"_ Naminé moaned). Eventually the gang-banging finally ended, leaving a fully mutilated Kairi twitching flat on her back like a dying turtle. Unable to take the abuse, her outfit had been reduced to tatters and threads once again, barely enough material to cover what was needed.

"And for good measure..." Larxene kicked Kairi's disarmed Keyblade far out of reach.

"We know you can't summon the Keyblade," the Roxas clone said. Kairi's ears were ringing and the taste of blood and dirt filled her mouth. She could barely open her eyes as her field of vision swam with black boots and cloaks.

Naminé let out a roar of frustration. She hated the feeling of helplessness, the inability to help Kairi anymore. Switching was no longer an option as both girls' strength was literally gone from them. All she could do was hear Zexion ask, "Now that we've got them at our mercy, what do we do with them?"

"They killed us," Marluxia stated solemnly. "It's only right that we return the favor."

"Correction. They only killed most of us," Axel said. Other than Xemnas and Roxas, the other members seemed shocked by his statement. The Flurry of Dancing Flames gave Vexen a look. "We're just like that replica of Riku, right? Artificial bodies implanted with real-time memories from our original selves. Real and yet not real."

"Oh, who cares?" Demyx chuckled. "What matters is that we're all alive and moving!"

But Larxene didn't look so thrilled. "Are you telling me that I'm nothing more than some toy?!" Her lip curled in anger. "Whatever! I get first crack!" she snapped. "Anyone object?"

"Sora..." Kairi whispered. She could barely make out the familiar shape of Sora's hand. Willing for her body to move, she began scooting along her back, inching toward her heart's true affection.

"Awww, isn't that sweet?" Larxene cackled sarcastically. "She wants to spend her final moments holding the hand of her _'hero.'_" Sparks seemed to erupt from her eyes. "How utterly pathetic." She raised the kunai in her hand, lightning bolts flying from her body. "You and that witch have irked me for too long!" A sadistic grin appeared on her face. **"DIE!"** Her hand plunged toward Kairi's body.

At that exact moment the Princess of Heart felt Sora's fingertips meet her own as her eyes squeezed shut and only one thought blazed through her mind: _'Sora, I love y...'_

**SMACK!** Larxene's neck snapped back as a Blitzball slammed her full in the face, sending her reeling. As soon as she recovered from the blow, she tightened the grip on the kunai between her fingers and shot a pissed off stare at the source. "Alright! Who else wants to die?!" However, her angry glare immediately became a face of astonishment as she realized what she was looking at.

Kairi couldn't make out what was going on, but she could sense rough vibrations of movement happening around her. The next thing Kairi was aware of, she felt her body being lifted upright into a sitting position. Familiar tones swirled around in her ears. A few seconds later, her eyes fluttered open and was stunned to see the faces of both her friends from Destiny Islands and Twilight Town. "Are you okay?" Selphie asked gently.

"Selphie?" Kairi croaked with a raspy voice. She couldn't believe her eyes. "Is it really you?"

"You're not alone, Kairi," Olette said. "Not anymore." Kairi felt a smooth, thirst-quenching liquid being poured into her mouth. She was surprised at how dry her throat was until the Megalixir soothed it.

"What is this?!" Vexen shouted. "Who are all these mongrels?!" Despite his anger, he and the rest of the Organization were forced back into a defensive line as the rest of the calvary began transporting in.

Aerith and Tinker Bell both healed Sora and Riku before joining up with the others. Kairi was completely astonished at all the people that had come to rescue her. "All of you...came for me?"

"Well, what'd you expect?" Yuffie grinned at her. "We didn't want you having all the fun!"

"Oh, yeah. It was a blast," Riku replied sarcastically.

Sora gave him an incredulous look. "Riku...making jokes?" He patted Riku smartly on the back. "Now I know things are serious."

Kairi blushed as she became aware of her current state of undress. Luckily, Donald came waddling in, muttered a quick spell and to Kairi's relief, her outfit was restored to its whole and modest state. Kairi shook her head trying to make sense of things. "But how?"

"Me and Tron cracked their system," Pence said as he heaved around Cid's flamethrower. "There's a hidden portal beyond this illusion from here to up there." Pence pointed upward. "Believe it or not, you've been a hundred feet below the Garden of Assemblage."

Riku facepalmed himself. "Nice going, Pence. You've just told the Organization how to escape."

Pence only raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry about it! A barrier on this side of the portal automatically goes up to prevent escaping." Olette and Hayner tried to shush the next part, but were unsuccessful when Pence said, "The only way to get out is by hitting it with enough force to disrupt the barrier."

**"PENCE!"** the teenagers shouted causing Pence to jump.

Tidus shook his head. "And you guys say that I'm the dumb one..."

"Get to that portal!" Xemnas ordered. "It's the only way out of here!" Before the Organization could even make a move, the rest of Sora's allies had finished appearing and had formed a wall that barred their path.

First, King Mickey, Donald & Goofy took a step forward...

...then, Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan, Tinker Bell...

...Jack Skellington, Cid, Leon...

...Olette, Hayner, Selphie...

...Aerith, Yuffie, Tifa...

...Tron, Pence, Tidus...

...Tarzan, Beast, Cloud...

...Aladdin, Simba, Auron, Hercules...

...Mulan, Mushu, Ariel, Wakka...

...and finally, Sora, Riku and Kairi.

Demyx shuddered. "Thirty versus thirteen?! We're outnumbered two-to-one!"

Larxene snorted. "Most of them are just little kids. Quit overreacting!"

"Kids?" Yuffie stomped her foot. "At least we're more mature than an old hag like you!"

Larxene gritted her teeth. "I'll make you regret that, you underdeveloped bimbo!"

Although they had the numbers advantage, the Organization's members were worth at least three of Sora's friends in terms of power. However, Kairi couldn't help but smile. It looked like this was finally going to be a fair fight.


	38. The Reckoning (Part 1 of 4)

_"C'mon, c'mon! Pick up!"_

_*CLICK*_

_"...'lo?"_

_"Sora? Are you awake?"_

_"Huh? Kairi? That you? Did I oversleep for our wedding?"_

_"No, no! Sorry, but I couldn't sleep."_

_"Mm..."_

_"It's just...it's just something's been bothering me for awhile now and I finally remembered what it is."_

_"..."_

_"Sora? Sora, are you still there?"_

_"Huh, wha-ba...Uh, what?"_

_"I've gotta know, Sora. When you restored Destiny Islands and you were fading over the horizon, what exactly were you yelling at me?"_

_"What was I yelling? You mean after the 'I'll come back to you! I promise!'?"_

_"Yeah, that. Were you yelling my name or..."_

_"You really want to know?"_

_"Yeah, I wanna know."_

_"You're serious?"_

_"Please, Sora! I can't sleep without knowing!"_

_"...fine. I was yelling, 'Kairi! I think I'm pregnant! And you're the father!'"_

_"..."_

_"Kairi?"_

_"Are you trying to be funny?"_

_"Kairi, it's 4 AM. I'm still half-asleep. I couldn't be funny if I tried."_

_"Um...ooookay...Maybe I shouldn't have asked..."_

_"It was either that or I said that you were pregnant and Riku was the father..."_

_"Er...sorry for waking you up Sora."_

_"Or was it Hayner that was the father and Donald was the mother..."_

_"I'm going to hang up now."_

_"Pluto and Goofy?"_

_"Good night, Sora. I'll see you in the morning."_

_"Or was it Haley Joel Osment and-"_

_*CLICK*_

_"Uh, hello? Kairi? Are you still there? Hello?"_

* * *

"Any advice from a seasoned veteran?" Hayner muttered to Leon, readjusting his grip on the Gunblade.

"Squall" only gave him a sideways glance, not daring to turn his head away from their opponents. "Grip your sword, clench your teeth and swing like crazy."

"Wait a tick!" Captain Jack Sparrow pushed his way past Cloud and Auron, brushed some loose braids out of his face and squinted. His eyes widened as he recognized the Gambler of Fate. "You're that bloody Organizer who cursed me!"

Luxord only smirked. "Don't hate the player, hate the game," he retorted curtly.

"And that's the one who woke the dragon!" Mulan shouted, pointing her sword at Xigbar.

"Oh yeah?" Xigbar chuckled. "Why don't you prove it was me?"

"Xaldin..." The Prince bared his teeth and snarled to which the Whirlwind Lancer reciprocated.

"Hey!" Hercules' muscles rippled as he pointed at Demyx. "You're that guy that took the Olympus Stone!"

Demyx stomped his foot, reddish-brown dust flying from the impact. "For the last time, I WASN'T stealing! I was only borrowing!"

Pence felt the flamethrower begin to shift off balance, so he hefted it back to the center of his chest. "So these are the guys responsible for this whole mess?" he grunted.

"It does not matter how many of your so-called "friends" you have," the Superior said in his usual calm demeanor. "We nothings will not disappear into the void. Not again."

"Dude, don't you ever speak using contractions?" Tidus taunted. "Who do you think you are, Data from Star Trek?"

Larxene's eyebrows suddenly shot up in shock before her face twisted into a look of disgust. "That better be your chakram touching my butt, Axel," she growled without turning her head.

Axel raised his eyebrow from the other end of the line. "Hello? I'm waaaaay over here. How am I...more importantly, WHY would I even be anywhere near your butt?"

The Savage Nymph's gaze snapped to the other corner of her eyes. "Demyx?"

Demyx popped his head out from behind Luxord and waved half-heartedly. "Um, I'm over here."

"...Vexen?"

"Why would I waste my time with you?" Vexen mused. Then under his breath, he added, "It's not like you have anything a man wouldn't have anyway."

Larxene whipped around with the intent to kill, when she discovered what the long, pointy object was. "Xigbar!" She slammed him across the face. "If those arrows poke me again, you're going to need more than just another eyepatch!"

From their posse of teenage fighters, Olette and Selphie couldn't help but giggle. Their chuckles quickly turned to gasps as they felt their own butts being poked. Instinctively, they whirled around and smacked Hayner and Tidus with their nunchucks. "What is wrong with you two?!" Selphie snapped.

The boys flinched with fear as they saw the unforgiving fire in both girls' eyes. "We're sorry!" Tidus quickly apologized.

"It was an accident!" Hayner added.

Olette gave them a disapproving glare. "Keep those swords pointed away from us!"

Sora, Riku and Kairi let out a collective sigh of disappointment from their position at the front of the group. "If either of you poke my butt, I'm gonna be collecting your guys' life insurance policies a lot sooner than you think," Kairi said. "I've had enough of being groped for the rest of my life."

"We wouldn't dream of it," Riku assured her.

"Wait..." Sora ruffled his bushy hair. "What life insurance policies?"

"Enough talk!" Larxene snapped, the kunai between her fingers twitching. "These idiots are good as dead!"

Sora snorted with amusement. "Tough talk from people who resorted to gang-banging three weary and exhausted teenagers!" He tightened the grip on his Keyblade.

"Foolish boy!" Vexen cackled. "If you only knew the other half of the story!"

Kairi's hair rippled over her bare shoulders as she shook her head angrily. "You know what? We don't care anymore!" she spat.

"Whatever reasons you may have had, it doesn't matter." Riku pointed his Keyblade at Vexen. "Everything you've done to us, to the worlds, is unforgivable. Whatever happens next..." He resumed his battle stance. "...is your doing."

Sora, Riku and Kairi stood at the forefront of their group. Xemnas, Marluxia and Saïx did the same.

It was an unbelievable sight. Two opposing armies, forces of nature with unmatched ferocity. Every individual had their own reasons for fighting. But this battle was no longer about light and dark, good and evil, nothings or hearts. There was only one thing left to do.

Fight. Attack with everything that was possible. The battle lines had been drawn. It was now an all-out war.

In one synchronized thunderous roar came the combined shouts of the Destiny Island trio and Xemnas: "ATTACK!"

As the two sides collided, the entire arena shook on impact. The unstoppable force met the impenetrable wall. Weapons and projectiles flew as chaos reigned.

It had begun.

* * *

The Gambler of Fate twirled a card lazily between his gloved fingers. Despite the great shift in odds, his gamer's spirit couldn't be more thrilled. After all, he had faced worse. Taking an almost dramatic leap of showsmanship, Captain Jack Sparrow landed almost drunkenly in front of Luxord's feet with Peter Pan and Tinker Bell trailing behind.

"Send this pestilent, traitorous, cow-hearted, yeasty codpiece to the brig," Sparrow blathered.

"Aye aye, captain!" Peter responded, his dagger at the ready.

Luxord stared at the Pixie Boy. "And who are you supposed to be? An 80's Batman sidekick?"

"Not exactly your typical pirate, is he?" Peter muttered to Tink. "I can picture him with the Village People, though..."

_"This from someone who hangs around with a gnat?"_ Luxord thought to himself. Summoning a pair of giant cards and grabbing one in each hand, he card flipped toward Sparrow. Bringing down their razor-sharp edges in an overhead arc, Luxord's weapons nicked the toes of the Captain's boots. "I guess you're slightly more competent than I thought," he taunted.

"Oh, it's going to be **THAT** way, eh?" Sparrow swung his blade for a headshot, but Luxord deflected the blow with another card. "This is all a game to you, is it?" Jack twisted his body for another blade slice. A spiral of cards flew from Luxord's sleeve, smashing Jack in the solar plexus like a blunt drill before swatting him away.

"And here I believed you were just some haggard drunk!" Luxord suddenly took a step back and his entire body became two-dimensional, causing Peter to overshoot his target and miss his attack. The Gambler became his full form again and tapped his temple with his finger mockingly. "Sorry, but playing the numbers game won't help you."

As the boy screeched to a halt, Jack was able to recover long enough to yank his sword back and take a stab towards Luxord. The sword's tip was only inches from a critical hit when a cold blunt object slammed Sparrow across the back of his head, knocking him off his feet. His vision swimming, Sparrow could barely make out the icy, blue shield of Vexen gliding toward him for another attack.

Fortunately for the Captain, Cloud, Olette and Selphie were on their way to provide backup. The girls snapped their nunchucks at Vexen, but their weapons barely made a scratch through the thick slab of ice. Vexen let out his hearty laugh, causing Cloud to cringe. "No! It's Hojo!"

"Really?" Olette ran her fingers through her hair thoughtfully. "He sounds more like this one anime voice actor that you always hear about."

Cloud shook his head. "I've never watched TV in my life."

The girls gave him incredulous looks. "Wow. You've been to places full of technology and you haven't even seen a single anime show?" Selphie shook her head. "What kind of metal pie plate have you been living under?"

"Well, excuse me for trying to find out about my past."

"Riiiiight." Olette put her hands on her hips. "If I remember correctly, you spent your childhood looking through girls' drawers."

"Wha-" Cloud's face looked like he had been slapped, but he quickly retained his composure. "I already told Tifa that I wasn't being serious."

Vexen couldn't help but widen his eyes in amazement. "Ooh! You do that too?"

"Stay out of this!" Cloud brandished his sword wildly and leapt in the air. Despite the power and huge size of Cloud's weapon (just like everyone else's), his Buster Sword only managed to cut a deep groove into Vexen's shield.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Vexen said with a tone that was far from sorry. "Did I touch a nerve? You don't seem to be a Heartless or Nobody, yet I sense darkness residing within you..."

"Who do you think you are, Sigmund Freud?!" Cloud hacked and slashed at Vexen with unmatched ferocity. "I've been through more than you can ever imagine! What makes you think you know me?!" Vexen only laughed, taunting him by gliding just barely out of his sword's range.

"Oh, but I do know about you, Cloud Strife." Vexen raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm a scientist after all. And everything that Sora knows..." He grinned. "...I know."

"I don't know why, but I'm getting chills down my spine every time this Vexen guy opens his mouth," Olette said in a sideways stage whisper to Selphie.

"I think that's the whole point of the ice thing." Selphie pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I kinda see why Kairi was afraid of him." The girls exchanged glances before turning their attention back to Vexen. Using non-verbal communication, they quickly understood what they needed to do.

While Vexen was focused on taunting the spiky-haired blonde, Selphie positioned herself behind him. She swung her weapon around like a grappling hook and flung the free end toward Olette. The Twilight girl managed to grab it and pull the rope tight just moments before Vexen foolishly glided right into the makeshift trip wire. He flailed his arms wildly attempting to regain his balance, but to no avail. As Vexen's head slammed into the hard, rocky terrain, the girls dashed over and began tying his ankles together with Selphie's weapon.

"Bondage?" he muttered. As the girls attempted to pull the rope tight, Vexen swiped his shield, slicing the weapon in two, causing his would-be captors to fall flat on their butts. Gracefully rising up to his feet like a blowup doll, Vexen waved his arm out in a dramatic flourish. "Fortunately for me, I still have all of the data I collected."

Selphie gasped as she massaged her poor posterior. "You don't mean..."

Vexen raised his arm. A dark ball of energy formed in the middle of his palm. "Prepare to meet Kairi's dark form!" he cackled. The shadowy ball of energy burst into hot blinding light.

The Chilly Academic's smug grin was immediately replaced with a weak snarl. To his chagrin, the only shadow creature he summoned was Anti-Sora. As the poor creature hopped up and down with its head bobbing left and right, Vexen could only stare at it in disbelief. He kneaded his forehead and sighed "Maybe I'm getting too old for this," right before being body checked by Jack Sparrow.

"Forgot about me, have you?" As Vexen struggled to recover his balance, Sparrow and Cloud both took flying leaps and brought down their swords with windbreaking speed. The combined force of both swordsmen's weapons shattered Vexen's shield leaving the Chilly Academic wide open. Before either of them could follow up with another attack, two giant cards popped up to shield Vexen.

"Forgot about me, have you?" Luxord echoed, mocking Sparrow. The Gambler flipped over Vexen, grabbed the giant cards and slashed them in a downward arc, forcing both Captain and ex-Soldier to deflect the attack.

Meanwhile, Anti-Sora hopped around like a frog on meds, unable to stay still.

"Eww!" Selphie crinkled her nose in disgust. "Not that thing!" Anti-Sora's head snapped up and its peering yellow eyes locked onto hers. "Me and my big mouth," she muttered fearfully. Without warning, the faux Sora galloped toward her, an almost hungry look on its non-existent face. Before the poor girl could ready her weapon, Anti-Sora rushed toward her, covering the distance between them in seconds. A soft scream left her lips as the creature tackled her to the ground and began pawing at her chest greedily.

"Selphie!" Olette cried. As she ran to help her sexually molested friend, Vexen rose serenely to his feet, concentrating on freezing the water molecules that hung in the air to reform his shield.

"What do you think you're doing, you imbecile?!" Vexen snapped at Anti-Sora. "You don't attack without my orders!" As he glided forward to help his creation, Peter suddenly swooped out of nowhere and managed to slash his dagger across Vexen's face, drawing blood.

"Come on, you codfish!" Peter taunted. Vexen gently touched the newly formed cut on his cheek with his gloved fingers.

"Kid, you're pushing it!" Vexen raised his shield. His eyes glowed an icy blue as he froze the molecules in the air to form his giant ice sword. "Come to me, Ice Blade!" Peter blinked at its sheer size. As the green-tighted boy swooped out of Vexen's reach, Cloud broke away from Luxord and used his weapon to deflect the strike out of its trajectory. Vexen's lip curled into a sneer as he heaved his giant blade up for another attack. "So you want to compare sizes, do you?" The sight of its enormous shape whizzing toward his skull made the Ex-Soldier instinctively bring his Buster Sword up to parry. "I guess it's true with what they say about men with big blades!" Vexen cackled. Although Cloud had experience in battling against opponents with giant weapons, Vexen's Ice Blade made Sephiroth's Masamune look like Peter Pan's dagger.

"Obviously he's never been to Singapore," Sparrow muttered. His eyes flickered back and forth as he struggled to decide which group to help out. He pointed both his index fingers at the teenage girls. "The wee bonnie lasses ..." Then he swiveled his fingers toward the other ongoing battle between the two pairs of men. "...or them..." His mustached-lip curled at the no-brainer. "Worry about your own fortunes gentlemen. The deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers."

As Jack ran to help the girls (or Anti-Sora, it wasn't clear which), Peter was attempting to hold his own against Luxord. He had fought against many opponents, but the main reason that the "Boy Who Never Grew Up" would always win was because he had always managed to make fun of them, throwing them off their game and eventually forcing them to make a fatal mistake. This wasn't one of those fights. Luxord kept pushing forward and attacking relentlessly, leaving absolutely no room for playful banter or time to recover. For the first time in his seemingly eternal youth, Peter wasn't completely sure he could win this fight.

Noticing how hard Peter was having to work to keep up caused Luxord to smirk. "You must learn to keep your head in the game, boy," he taunted. "In this grand contest of existence, every card dealt determines the outcome between victory and defeat. For example..." Two giant cards with an orange swirl plastered on its face popped up in Peter's flight path. Before he could turn, the boy crashed into them, causing them to explode on contact that sent him hurtling head over heels back into Luxord's range. "You're being too reckless. Making too many unnecessary moves. Believing you could defeat us with merely a numbers advantage." Luxord summoned another pair of cards and slashed the incoming fairy boy across the chest and back as he flew past. "As you can see, putting all your chips in the pool gives..."

_"What happened to the Shakespeare quotes?"_ Peter wondered as Luxord finished his combo by swatting him into the ground, filling his face with dry, dusty earth.

Meanwhile, Cloud and Vexen were still at it. _"What I would give for some Materia right now,"_ the spiky-haired warrior thought to himself. He ran through his options. Climhazzard, Braver, Omnislash... All of those attacks required him to be within striking distance. Usually Cloud would be able to just rush up to his enemy and start slashing away, but Vexen was being smart enough to always glide out of his sword's reach. Remembering what little he saw in Kairi's video clips, a nagging thought popped into his mind. _"Do these guys even know how to walk anymore? If they're not ice-skating, they're hovering in a wind ball, surfing on geysers or standing upside down."_

Vexen was having similar thoughts. _"Youth these days! What is it with them always putting their hair into outrageous hairstyles like some Japanese anime?"_ His upper lip curled slightly. "That blonde, spiky hair makes you look like some bisexual prostitute! No wonder you're always with Sephiroth!" He tapped his finger against his temple. "You could probably be his bride!"

Cloud's eyes narrowed. "That's going too far!" he snapped. His body began to pulsate with a red glow as he twirled his blade above his head. His weapon reverberated with a dull, heavy sound as it sliced through the air. To Vexen's surprise, a small portal opened up above Cloud's head. Small meteors flew out of its gaping maw and shattered Vexen's ice blade.

Undaunted, Vexen quickly reformed his shield and flew at Cloud. Before his victim could react, Vexen's shield scraped the ground, summoning a chunk of ice that tore straight up into Cloud's grip. The ice spike smashed into Cloud's hands, disarming him. The ex-Soldier's eyes fixated on the sword flipping end over end before finally piercing the ground with a heavy **SHOONK!** Wasting no time, Vexen fired a freeze blast at Cloud's legs encasing them in a chunk of ice. As Cloud struggled with his feet, the Chilly Academic moved the blast upward until his opponent was encased in a mass of ice up to his chin. Vexen flipped his shield around and pointed its sharp tip at Cloud's throat.

"Your move, soldier," Vexen whispered.

"No!" Peter spat out a gritty mouthful of dirt, shoved himself off the ground and planted his feet for a running takeoff. Unfortunately, he had forgotten an important rule that had been ignored again and again throughout the day: "Never turn your back on your opponent." As soon as the boy took his eyes off of Luxord, the crafty gambler took his window of opportunity.

"I think not." Luxord snapped his fingers and the apparition of a ghostly clock wistfully materialized through Peter's middle. Before he could react, the green-clad kid found himself transformed and trapped into the form of a card.

Meanwhile, Olette had wrapped her weapon around Anti-Sora's neck and was trying to yank him off her friend, but the creature was too persistent in his quest for knowledge about the female anatomy.

"Get off of her, you pervert!" Olette shouted as she strained her arms in an attempt to reign him in, but to no avail. Not knowing what else to do, she let go of the noose and went to grab handfuls of hair. Unlike the real Sora, the creature's tufts were extremely oily and Olette couldn't help but cringe from the slippery, disgusting feeling in her sweaty palms. She dug her knee into Anti-Sora's back and pulled with all her might. The grease caused her fingers to slip off and Olette's body snapped backward with nothing but fistfuls of air.

To her surprise, instead of landing painfully on the unyielding, rocky ground, Olette felt rough, but gentle hands catch her. "Careful, lass." She looked up behind her and found herself with a faceful of braids from the pirate captain. "I'll take care of this." Olette stepped out of the Captain's path as Sparrow took a few steps toward the mismatched couple.

"Oy! You slimy git!" Sparrow reached for his sword. "Look at what I got!" He unsheathed his blade and pointed it at the creature's throat. Anti-Sora whipped its head around at the instigator and responded with an intimidating hiss, causing Jack to flinch. As Anti-Sora turned back to his prey, the swashbuckler shot a glance at Olette as if asking her what to do. After a few seconds of awkwardness, he decided to take another approach. Sheathing his sword, Sparrow tapped Anti-Sora on the shoulder. As the creature turned to glare at the annoyance once again, Jack quickly twisted his face into what he believed to be an expression of concern. "I know how you must feel, mate. All the pretty lasses in reach...wanting to take what you can, give nothing back." The creature only stared back at him with a blank yellow stare. "I sympathize with you, really. But you could probably do better than them. Like..." Jack pointed over at Tifa on the other side of the field, who was currently in the middle of her own battle with Larxene.

Selphie waited with bated breath, trying to keep as still as possible. Although, she couldn't help but squirm as the creature's fingers were still cupped around her right breast. As Anti-Sora stared in Tifa's general direction, his head flitted back toward Selphie's scared face before turning back to the Captain...

...and the nozzle of his pistol aimed point-blank between the eyes.

**BLAM!**

As Anti-Sora's form burst into hundreds of tiny bubbles, Sparrow coolly put his gun away and extended a hand to Selphie, helping her stand up. His braids rippled across his shoulders as he shook his head in amusement.

"I'd like to see Johnny Depp explain **THAT** one to the fanbase..."

* * *

Luxord reared back with the giant card in his hand, intending to slice its edge into Peter's virtually useless form, when he suddenly felt a sharp prick jab the side of his face. "What the..." The tiny, sparkling form of Tinker Bell was doing her best to protect Peter by slamming flying kick after kick into Luxord's skull. Annoyed and amused at the same time, Luxord summoned a normal-sized playing card and with an almost lazy flick of his wrist, he swatted Tinker Bell, sending the fairy flying. Fortunately, the trajectory caused her to hurtle straight towards Cloud. With glittering fairy dust trailing after her, she landed safely in his sharp, yet poofy hair.

Vexen's eyes followed the pixie dust trail back toward the giant playing card. "Another girl?" he muttered. To Peter's horror, Vexen was staring right at him!

"Okay, I'll admit before that animated feature film about me came out, I was always played by a girl on stage..." Vexen glided effortlessly toward him undaunted. "...but I've always been a boy!"

"Your card form is quite interesting," the Chilly Academic muttered wistfully. "A little dissecting seems to be in order..."

Cloud struggled to break free from his icy block of bondage, but without his sword, he didn't have much leverage. While both Vexen and Luxord's attention were focused elsewhere, Jack Sparrow trotted up toward Cloud and gave the ice casing a wary eye. After studying it for a few seconds, he smiled slightly.

"Something I've learned in my travels..." Captain Jack wrapped his fingers around the handle of Cloud's buried sword. "Pixie dust is quite flammable."

With some difficulty, Jack heaved Cloud's giant sword on his shoulders. The incredible weight made him stagger back a few steps, but he eventually caught his balance. In an amazing feat of strength, Captain Sparrow managed to swing the blade along the side of the ice crystal, scraping the sword against the pixie dust and initiated a spark. The entire block erupted into a giant fireball before dissipating into nothingness, revealing Cloud's body covered in soot, but completely unharmed.

Selphie stared at this phenomenon before noticing the same stunned expression on Olette's face. "That should've been physically impossible, right?"

As Cloud brushed himself off, Tinker Bell shook the soot off her wings and posterior, causing a sweet, musical tinkling sound. The Captain handed Cloud back his sword. "I don't know how you wield that blade, mate." He gave him a look up and down. "Especially with that cabin boy exterior."

Cloud smirked. "It's all in the balance." He twirled his sword above his head and blitzed at Vexen. "Thanks for the ice pack. All you did was numb the pain." Before the eldest-looking member of the Organization could react, the Ex-Soldier cracked the giant sword into the already weakened shield with a powerful blow, shattering it to pieces that tinkled into the breeze.

"How dare you!" Vexen snarled. He started toward Cloud, ice crystals spurting from his fingers, when Luxord shot out his arm in his path, halting him in his tracks.

"Let me do it," Luxord said. "Since you don't want to play, maybe you'd rather spend the rest of the battle as children's trading cards..." He shook his hand out of his sleeve and readied to snap his fingers.

Olette glanced over at Selphie before sharing a collective sigh of exasperation. "If you were able to do something like that before, why didn't you just do that to begin with?" She frowned in annoyance. "I mean, all of you have these powers to slaughter us a million times over, yet you keep wasting time playing all these stupid games with us."

"She's right," Selphie added. "You guys are pretty lame when it comes to using your powers at full potential."

Vexen crossed his arms. "It's not my fault that they never listen to their elders."

Luxord bristled his fingers through his chin. "You're not trying to pull rank again, are you?"

"Well, if everyone had let my Riku finish Sora off at Castle Oblivion instead of conspiring against one another, we'd probably have our hearts by now!"

"I thought we already had our hearts," Luxord argued. He whipped out a playing card out of his sleeve and pointed it at Vexen. "Or have you been lying to us this entire time?"

Vexen cringed at the accusatory stare, but quickly regained his composure. "Of course we have our hearts. That was why Kairi was kidnapped in the first place." Luxord's eyes narrowed slightly with suspicion.

"Good. Because I don't like throwing a game when there's a chance of winning." He glared across the battlefield where Sora was involved in his own fight. "Especially to him." Luxord waved his right hand, the card disappearing into thin air. "But the girls are right. This would be so much easier if the opposition were immobilized." With his fingers at the ready, Luxord prepared to transform everyone else in range into cards...

There was a loud crash and the next moment, Luxord crumpled to the ground in an unconscious heap. On closer inspection, shards of glass were embedded in a brown pile of dirt caked throughout the short, bristly hair. It took a few seconds before everyone realized the Captain standing directly behind Luxord's fallen body, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "See? Good luck charm." His mustache quivered as he licked his lips. "Well, I'm parched."

Cloud gave a sideways glance at Tinker Bell. "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?" he wondered out loud. Tinker Bell only shrugged. While the heroes were distracted, Vexen took the opportunity to fall back and regroup with any other member that might help. Olette walked up to Peter, who was still trapped in his card imprisonment. Gently tapping the card, she frowned slightly.

"Since this guy's defeated, shouldn't Peter be released yet?"

"I don't think it works that way in here," Cloud said solemnly. "Judging by what Sora's told us about Luxord, the card form is only temporary, but annoying and restricting." He looked at the poor fairy boy's card. "All we can do is wait it out." Tinker Bell flew toward Peter's card and sat on its top edge, pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed.

Captain Sparrow pulled out a giant jug from seemingly nowhere and popped open its cork. As Jack took a swig, Selphie gasped. "Isn't that Mr. Auron's?"

"Your point?"

"But that's..." Before she could finish her sentence, the Captain's eyes rolled back in its sockets and he immediately fell on top of her. The jug fell lifelessly from his grip and began draining out onto the ground. Olette's nose wrinkled as the strong whiff of alcohol wafted toward her nostrils.

"That smell..." She willed herself not to throw up. "It reeks worse than one of Hayner's ispecial/i omelettes!"

"Can someone get this pirate off of me?!" Selphie cried. As Cloud went to help out Olette with Jack, it dawned on him that although they had managed to take one of the Organization members out of the fight, three of their own side were disabled in the process. They weren't getting out of this without casualties.

It was victory...or oblivion.


	39. The Reckoning (Part 2 of 4)

"When he's fighting Xemnas, his Majesty reminds me of someone..." Through Sora's eyes, Roxas was observing King Mickey as he was locked in a deadly dance of clashing blades with Xemnas.

"Really?" Curious to where this was leading to, Naminé and Kairi looked over in the King's direction. "Who?"

_"It's so obvious!"_ Roxas chuckled. _"Pointy ears, wrinkles, mental powers and you know who he'd be a dead ringer for?"_

_"You don't mean..."_ Naminé gasped.

_"Yes! He'd look just like Spock from Star Trek!"_

_"Well, duh!" _Naminé did a double take._ "Wait...Spock? Are you serious?!"_

_"Yeah!"_ Roxas couldn't miss the disbelief in Naminé's voice. _"Who'd you think I was going to say?"_

"Now that you mention it..." Sora couldn't help but picture the King in a Starfleet uniform. The image almost made him laugh.

"Uh..." Kairi gave Sora/Roxas an incredulous look. "A small guy going against someone wearing black leather and wielding lightsabers. Doesn't that remind you of something else?"

Sora thought for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Nope. Nothing rings a bell."

Kairi facepalmed. "Incredibly hopeless is what you are."

"Hate to break up your lover's spat," Wakka interrupted, "but we ARE in the middle of a fight right now!" Along with Sora and Kairi, he and Pence found themselves facing none other than Axel and the black-cloaked Roxas.

Axel readjusted his grip on his right chakram. "To think the Organization's been reduced to taking out a bunch of kids." Then he glanced over at the Roxas doppelganger. "No offense."

Roxas' doppelganger didn't even break a smirk. "Let's just get this over with." Org Roxas pointed his Oathkeeper at Pence. "I'll take the fat one."

"The name's Pence, you Blonde-Haired Kook!"

_"Hey! I resent that!"_ the Roxas inside Sora objected. _"BHK stands for 'Blonde-Haired Kid,' not-"_ Before he could continue his complaint, Sora had to quickly bring his Keyblade forward to deflect Axel's strike.

"Axel, why don't you recognize us?" Sora pleaded. The Flurry of Dancing Flames hesitated for a moment, looking unsure as if he were struggling to remember something.

"I...I'm not sure. Why do I feel like I know you?"

_"The Organization must've removed any recollections of us from his memory,"_ Naminé said. But there was something nagging in the back of Kairi's mind. Something that was important.

"Didn't you..." She tried to collect her thoughts. "Didn't you mention something from the Ansem Reports? Something about..." Kairi knew she was onto something, but the answer eluded her.

"Axel! Remember the mission!" Org Roxas' words shook Axel out of his memory-hazed fog. Before the doppelganger could say anymore, Wakka rushed in and slammed his right palm fully into Org Roxas' face like a linebacker with the football. He kept his weight on his free arm to pin his enemy to the ground as he raised his Blitzball with the intention of shoving it in so hard that the black-cloaked teenager would end up with his face imploded.

"Memorize this!" Wakka cried as he prepared to smash his Blitzball into Roxas' visage. Unfortunately, this left both of Org Roxas' Keyblades free. The Blitzball traveled only inches before the Keyblades stopped it in a scissor-like vicegrip. Before Wakka knew what happened, the ball was twisted out of his grip and flung out of reach before he ended up with Roxas on top of him, the Keyblades crossed over his throat and ready to cut his head off.

"You know, these Keyblades can slice through almost anything," Roxas' doppelganger said as he began to close the gap between his blades and Wakka's neck. "I've had to live without a heart. How would you like to live without a head?"

**"BACK OFF!"** Kairi shouted. Her silky, smooth leg smashed into Roxas' stunned facial expression, snapping his neck back and sending his body flying. Wakka's eyes widened in surprise.

"That was a nice kick!" he complimented. Wakka flipped up to his feet and chased after his discarded Blitzball.

_"You could've just hit him with the Keyblade,"_ Naminé observed.

Kairi couldn't help but smirk. "Where's the fun in that?"

"Kairi! Behind you!" Sora shouted. While her attention was focused on Roxas, Axel had taken the opportunity to jump backwards through a portal only to pop out from behind Kairi for a sneak attack. The girl whirled around and managed to parry one of his chakrams, but the spiky redhead was able to get under her guard and slash with the other. His arms whirled as his weapons sliced a chunk of fabric from her outfit, revealing her bare midriff for the umpteenth time that day.

"You know, I'm starting to feel like I'm in one of those perverted animes," Kairi muttered as Axel leapt out of attack range before she could retaliate. "Just not complete without some girl's clothes flying off."

"Enough!" Pence aimed Cid's flamethrower at Axel, cranked it up to full power and pulled the trigger. It was as if he had just ignited a rocket booster as a massive river of flame burst out of the weapon's nozzle. The force was so great that Pence was knocked back a few steps from the explosion.

Axel couldn't help but chuckle as he saw the flames shoot toward him. With just an almost lazy flick of his wrist, the stream of fire sharply turned away from him and straight toward Sora.

The sudden burst rocketing toward him caught the Keyblade master off guard, causing him to get nicked by the blast. A sudden jolt of pain caused Sora to wince as he realized that some of the flame's embers managed to fly inside the sleeve of his outfit and burned his right shoulder. As Sora instinctively patted the burn in an attempt to cool it down, Org Roxas had managed to recover from Kairi's kick and flew towards Sora with Oathkeeper and Oblivion at the ready.

_"Watch out! I'm...I mean, he's coming!"_ the real Roxas warned. Sora whirled around and parried Org Roxas' Oblivion with his good arm. Unfortunately, Sora wasn't used to wielding the Keyblade with his left arm and he felt a sharp, fleeting pain in his wrist. Taking advantage, Roxas smashed Oathkeeper's handle into Sora's burned shoulder, causing Sora to cry out in agony.

"Pathetic," the black cloaked boy taunted in a quiet voice. "And you're supposed to be my original self?" He pulled back his Oathkeeper and prepared to stab at Sora's heart.

_"Drive!"_ Roxas shouted.

Without hesitating for an instant, Sora tucked his arms and legs in and cried out, **"GIVE ME STRENGTH!"** The crystal-like sphere enveloped his entire body, shielding him from his opponent's deathblow. As the sphere shattered, Org Roxas was blasted back from the explosion of light and landed on his feet, staring at Sora's Limit Form outfit. Completely healed, Sora rushed at Org Roxas with his Keyblade at the ready.

* * *

Meanwhile, Pence was smacking the flamethrower with his palm in frustration. "Come on, you stupid piece of junk!" Pence was so focused on his malfunctioning weapon, he didn't notice Axel gliding in with his chakrams raised back to strike.

"Oh no you don't!" Wakka yelled. With the Blitzball tucked in the crook of his elbow, Wakka shoved Pence out of Axel's range with his free hand, ducked underneath Axel's outstretched arms and body-checked the flaming redhead.

As Axel massaged his stomach, he winced slightly out of reaction more than pain. His eyes narrowed at Wakka. "Kid, you don't want to make me mad!" In response, Wakka twirled around and chucked his Blitzball straight towards the redhead's face.

Without flinching, Axel slammed his chakrams into the ground. A pillar of flame erupted in front of Axel, deflecting the ball's trajectory back to its owner. Wakka managed to catch the rebound before he realized a body-sized circle was appearing underneath his feet. Seconds later, he was blasted skyward by another flame pillar, effectively incapacitated for a few seconds. Those seconds were all that Axel needed to finish what he started. Tightening his grip on his weapons, the Flurry of Dancing Flames made a mad dash towards Pence again.

Panicking because he finally noticed the incoming threat, Pence heaved the nozzle towards Axel and pressed the trigger in the hopes that flames would protect him from his assailant. Unfortunately, instead of embers, oil began to stream out of the nozzle. At an embarrassing angle, it almost looked like Pence was leaking onto the moist, brown ground. With nothing to protect him but a broken hunk of metal in his arms, Pence almost felt like taking a leak for real.

"Sorry, kid." Axel shook his head slightly. "You just weren't hot enough." If Pence were thinking clearly, he might've thrown the broken flamethrower in Axel's direction in the hopes that he would've survived for an extra few seconds. Unfortunately, it wouldn't have made a difference. With a snap of Axel's fingers, the oil instantly burst into flames setting Pence ablaze.

From his bird's eye perspective, Wakka was helpless to protect Pence from Axel's fire manipulation. However, the ball player realized that he had a perfect shot at Sora's opponent. Org Roxas' head was smacked upside the head by a Blitzball, followed by a full-grown human body that landed on top of him with a thunderous crash. As the dust cleared from the impact, Wakka coughed up some dirt out of his lungs and pointed Sora and Kairi's attention towards the flaming Pence.

Kairi quickly aimed her Keyblade and shouted **"FREEZE!"** The spell managed to abolish the flames from Pence's body, but the damage had already been done.

Sora whipped his head toward Wakka. "Get Pence away from here! We'll cover you!" Wakka wasted no time in picking up the injured boy and dashing for safety on the other side of a nearby rock.

Org Roxas used Oblivion to heave himself back to his feet and began closing in on Sora and Kairi. Axel appeared on the other side of the fated couple, effectively sandwiching them in a pincer formation. Both single wielders stared down the dual-wielders that surrounded them.

Circling the engaged couple like lions, Axel couldn't help but chuckle. "Two on two? Doesn't seem fair now does it?" Axel mused.

"The Organization owes you two for destroying Kingdom Hearts and the opportunity to become whole beings again," Org Roxas said coolly. "In the end, it doesn't even matter. We had to fall to lose it all, but in the end-"

"Linkin Park?" Sora interrupted. He couldn't help but give the Roxas clone an incredulous look. "Seriously, the least they could've done was update your references."

_"Geez, was I always this..."_ Roxas couldn't think of the word.

_"Irritating?"_ Naminé suggested. _"After the way your clone shoved his face into my..."_ She shuddered at the memory. _"Let's just say that it's going to be a long time before you even get to second base with me."_

_"Aw, Naminé. And here I thought you liked me," _Roxas teased.

Kairi scratched at her bare midriff. "No matter how many times my body gets exposed, I feel dirtier every single time someone sees me naked." She glanced over at Sora's Limit Form-clad body out of the corner of her eye. "By the way, love the classic look."

Sora licked his lips and gulped. "And you look, uh..." He was slightly stunned that even in the weariness of battle, Kairi's looks made him speechless.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Just say it already, Romeo."

"You look pretty nice," Sora blurted out. He could hear Naminé and Roxas letting out pitying sighs.

_"Out of all the compliments that you could've come up with, that was the best you had?"_ Roxas shook his head in the back of Sora's mind. _"When this is all over, you and I are going to have a little talk."_

"Face it, tiger. You hit the jackpot," Kairi teased with a wink. Sora was about to reply, but the sudden flash of movement from their opponents signaled that the time for talk was over. Without missing a beat, Sora dived at Axel while Kairi blitzed toward the Roxas clone. The Keyblade wielders were locked in a deadly dance with dangerous, dual-wielding dynamos.

As Axel swiped and slashed with merciless intensity, Sora couldn't help but feeling a sense of deja vu. A boy in rodent-shaped shoes among a palace of ivory...

"You lost before, kid!" Axel taunted. "What's so different this time?" Outmatching his opponent in speed, Axel circled around Sora and let loose his chakrams, embers flaking off through their path. Luckily, Sora and Roxas had the advantage of remembering every single bout they ever had against each other. Knowing Axel's fighting style by heart, Sora whirled around and managed to execute a perfect Guard, nullifying any damage.

Axel's eyebrows rose in surprise, a sight that made Roxas smirk slightly from the back corner of Sora's mind. "Last time it was five-on-one." The Keyblade spun around in Sora's hand. "I know it's not your fault the Organization erased your memories of us. But if you're the Axel I remember..." There was a tinge of pity in the teenager's tone. "...you'll forgive us."

Sora thrusted the Keyblade with great force that his feet seemed to glide effortlessly across the rocky terrain. **"TAKE THIS!"** Sora's body was a blur as his form darted back and forth across the battlefield. With each pass, the Keyblade smashed through Axel's defenses and connected with multiple hits to his upper body.

Because of Axel's own memories being purged and rewritten to not include any familiarity of his opponent, he was helpless with shock that his trademark speed wasn't fast enough to counterattack Sora's Sonic Blade. Axel doubled over from Sora's final blow, clutching his stomach.

"You got me..." he gasped. Sora turned to face Axel, half-expecting him to dissolve into data bits to confirm his defeat. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a fatal lapse of judgment. "Not!" Before Sora could put up his guard, Axel hurled a chakram into the Keyblade wielder's face.

_"Sora!"_ Roxas cried as Sora's body flew back in a high arc. Time seemed to slow down for the Keyblade wielder as his reflexes kicked in. Without even thinking, Sora jammed the Keyblade into the ground to stop his body in motion and managed to twist himself back upright. While Sora shuffled his feet back into position, Kairi was having problems of her own.

The Org's Roxas was pursuing Kairi relentlessly, Oathkeeper and Oblivion slashing after her. With every swipe of his Keyblades, Nobody symbols appeared overhead shooting lasers straight into the ground and shot themselves outward, their beams trailing across the earth.

_"Dontgetstrippeddontgetstrippeddontgetstripped..." _ was the mantra Kairi kept running in her mind as she evaded Org. Roxas' assault.

"I thought you were going to face me," the black clad Roxas taunted, "not run away like the stereotypical hero's girlfriend that everyone thinks you are." Kairi stopped to a dead halt and whirled around at her attacker, her red hair shimmering across her shoulders.

"You did NOT just call me a damsel in distress!" Kairi's eyes flashed at him angrily as she sidestepped a stray laser. "Husband-in-law or not, your clone butt is going down!" The Princess of Heart leapt into the air, heaved the Keyblade above her head and swung it down toward her opponent's head with enraged force. Reacting quickly, Org. Roxas jumped backward out of range and hurled his Keyblades at her. They flew like sawblades in outward arcs before swooping in at their target.

_"Duck!"_ Naminé yelled. Kairi instinctively threw her body forward into a Dodge Flip. She could feel the wind being generated from the spinning Keyblades as they rushed past her ears, mere centimeters from both sides of her head. Although her quick reaction was able to dodge the attack, her body (namely, her outfit) didn't go unscathed.

As she righted herself, Kairi's shoulder straps suddenly came neatly apart and hung loosely like wet noodles, leaving her top to slide slightly downward to reveal some embarrassing cleavage. "Geez, haven't you guys seen me naked enough already?!" Kairi yelled as she shimmied her top as high as she possibly could.

_"Apparently not,"_ Naminé sighed.

"Couldn't you just, I don't know, Mind Crush him? From what I heard, you were able to do it with Riku's replica."

_"Repliku's a different case. I was the one who personally implanted his memories, so I was the only one who could undo what I did. This Roxas clone they created was given selected memories through artificial means. In other words, I'm pretty much locked out."_

"Well, it'd be too easy if you WERE able to do anything about it," Kairi muttered darkly.

Org Roxas twirled a Keyblade in each hand and very carefully placed them on the hard, earthen ground. Kairi couldn't help but have a feeling of deja vu as his weapons began to scrape across the ground as he charged toward her, a killing glare etched on his face. Kairi readied her stance.

"Why did he pick you?!" Org Roxas suddenly cried, raising Oathkeeper. Kairi blinked in confusion.

"What?" She jerked her foot back as Oathkeeper smashed into its former occupied position. Drawing her arms back in a circular motion, Kairi swung at her opponent's exposed shoulder. A sickening crack reverberated through the air as her weapon made contact with its target. Org Roxas grunted in pain, his Keyblade clattering to the ground from his numbed fingers.

"Out of all that he could've chosen, why'd he pick you?" Undaunted, Org Roxas retaliated by swiping Oblivion across her legs, causing her already short outfit to easily expose her panties. Kairi's face matched the shade of her hair.

"You pervert!" Her foot smashed Org Roxas across his face, sending him flying back through the air. "What are you talking about? Do you mean Sora?" Her opponent twisted his body upright and landed back into position. He massaged his aching jaw with his good shoulder.

"You have no idea, do you?" Kairi had the nagging feeling that she was missing something, as if the words seemed to have some sort of importance.

"...why he picked me..." Kairi lowered her Keyblade as she echoed what she had just seen. She closed her eyes, tuning out everything else.

_"Kairi?"_ As the black-cloaked Roxas lifted his Oblivion and charged toward her, the redhead stood rooted to the spot in thought.

"Part of me..." Kairi knew she was onto something, but the day's events were keeping her from concentrating. Her face was taut with focus.

_"Um, Kairi?"_ Naminé repeated, a slight panic in her voice now. Org Roxas was mere feet from the girls when he leapt in the air, Oblivion raised.

"Disappear," was all that he uttered.

_"KAIRI!"_ Naminé screamed. Kairi's eyes snapped open and in one fluid movement, stabbed the Keyblade in her opponent's direction.

_**"GATHER!"**_ Without warning, Org Roxas' body snapped backward as Kairi's Magnega spell caught him in its pull.

"What?!" he yelled in surprise. As the teenage blonde orbited in the air, Kairi Aerial Dodged up to his level and as soon as he floated into range, she flipped her Keyblade around and smashed its handle across the other side of his face.

"I realized that since they've been gathering data on me, they know my fighting style by now, right?" Kairi explained to Naminé. "So I figure that if I change my battle strategy, they'll have a harder time to adapt."

_"So what you're saying..."_ Naminé began.

"In other words, less worrying about getting stripped and more getting down and naughty...I mean, dirty," Kairi quickly corrected herself as her cheeks reddened. "All this pervertedness must really be getting to me," she muttered darkly. Kairi grabbed a fistful of leather of Org Roxas' cloak with her free hand and yanked him out of the spell's fading orbit and crashed her knee into his face. While he was stunned, Kairi kicked her right leg over his head and spun around until she could clamp her thighs around his skull.

_"Didn't you do this move with Xemnas?"_ Naminé asked. As Kairi reached down for the teenager's legs, Naminé added, _"You know, after this is over, you should totally think of getting into professional wrestling."_

"You want to see my underwear that badly, you jerk?! Fine then!" One extreme close-up of Kairi's panties and the hooded Roxas lost his icy-steel composure.

"Not again!" he cried. Org Roxas started to struggle, but it was already too late as the duelists hurtled towards earth. And with a spectacular crash, Kairi piledrived her opponent mercilessly into the rocky floor, causing chunks of dirt to fly everywhere.

As Kairi released her hold, she couldn't help but smirk slightly. "You've got to remember, Naminé: This may be the serious, job-oriented clone of Roxas, but he's still a typical teenage male."

_"Well, at least it wasn't my underwear that he was ogling at this time,"_ Naminé replied with a sigh.

* * *

"Just hold on, man," Wakka huffed with a critically injured Pence in his arms. "Just hold on." With every Organization member busy dealing with their own personal group of Sora's allies, it was a miracle that the boys managed to find some refuge behind a tall rock formation without opposition. As Wakka got down on one knee and laid Pence carefully on the ground, the slightly rotund boy let out a small moan.

"Am I dead?" Pence looked up at Wakka's concerned face and gave him a weak smile. Wakka let out a dry chuckle.

"Believe me, the Underworld probably couldn't be any worse than whatever messed-up dimension we're in right now."

"I'm thinking I should've stayed outside and monitored the rest of you instead of trying to fight." Pence's body shivered slightly. "I mean, who am I kidding? I'm a computer hacker, not a brawler! I'm only good for supporting roles."

"Don't worry about it. The fact that you're still alive means you're a survivor. You haven't rolled up and died. Besides, all supporting characters are allowed to equip some means to defend themselves." When Pence still didn't look convinced, Wakka reached for his back pocket. "Here." He pulled out a bottle of Mega Potion. "This'll probably heal all those burns of yours..."

"But I'll still feel like crap?" Pence joked.

"At least you'll be on your feet again." Wakka stood up from his kneeling position. "After you heal, stay behind this rock. It's the safest place for the time being. Try to think of some way for anybody else here that can't fight to escape."

"From the inside? That's impos-" The Blitzball player could see the gears turn in the computer geek's head. "If we can find a control panel or something of the like in this room, I just might be able to create a back door." Pence gingerly sat up. "What about you?" he asked. "Where are you going?" Wakka confidently spun his ball on his finger.

"To help some star-crossed lovers live long enough to reach the aisle."

* * *

Kairi stood up and waved away some dust clouds that were hovering in front of her face. As her field of vision cleared, the dust clouds dissipated to reveal a wobbly Org Roxas propping himself up with Oblivion.

"How..." The girls almost felt bad for seeing Roxas in a messed-up state. Almost. "How can I lose to someone like you?! You're not one of the Keyblade's chosen!" Org Roxas coughed out some gravel bits. "I'm supposed to be the Key of Destiny!"

"Yeah? Well, I'm Hayden Panettiere!" Kairi shot back sarcastically. Org Roxas only stared blankly back at her. "You know? That girl from that NBC show, Heroes?" she clarified.

_"You mean Hiro?"_ Naminé chirped.

"Yeah, that's the one." Kairi's brain did a double-take. "No, hey! Do I look Japanese? Wait, don't answer that."

"What exactly are you trying to prove by fighting us anyway? You're no hero!" Org Roxas continued as he struggled to stand back up. "Look at you. You're supposed to be a Princess; some girl that waited on her butt for years expecting her Prince Charming to return and ended up getting herself kidnapped not once, not twice, but three times! Just what do you think you're playing at?!"

_"I didn't know Roxas felt this strongly,_" Naminé murmured.

"I don't think that's it," Kairi said. "He's a clone, right? Something tells me that whatever personality or memories he was implanted with is starting to break down."

_"Think the flashing did it?"_ Naminé replied rhetorically. By this time, Org Roxas managed to catch his second wind and stand up from his hunched over state.

"All you'll ever be is this helpless, little girl that easily succumbs not from pain, but by being tickled!" Org Roxas gave an un-Roxas-like smirk. "Seriously, I think your weakness is pathetic." He pointed Oathkeeper at the girls with a flourish.

"Are you just asking to get your butt kicked?" Kairi snapped. "We've already been through all of this with Larxene, with Zexion..." She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. "By Hades, we've been putting up with this crap ever since you people kidnapped me!"

"And that blonde-haired bimbo dresses like gutter trash," Org Roxas added.

_"Okay, that does it!"_ Naminé quickly responded. Without thinking, she subconsciously tightened her grip on the Keyblade using Kairi's fingers. _"He's SO getting a Mind Crush." _

"But I thought you said..." Kairi began.

_"I meant I'm going to crush that thick-headed mind of his with this Keyblade,"_ Naminé clarified. She was so focused on her opponent that she failed to notice Axel aiming a chakram at Kairi's red-headed skull.

Sora swiped at the projectile in a desperate attempt to deflect it, but he reacted too late. As his Keyblade passed through the space where the chakram used to be, he whipped his head toward Kairi and began to cry out a warning. "KAI-" Unfortunately, Axel spun with the momentum and slammed his other chakram into Sora's stomach, sending him crashing to his knees.

Hearing Sora's grunt of pain, Kairi took her eyes off of Org Roxas, giving her opponent the opportunity to lunge at her. Her eyes went wide as Axel's weapon flew straight and true toward her battle weary face.

The projectile was just inches from its target when all of a sudden, the chakram was intercepted by none other than Wakka's Blitzball. The impact caused Axel's weapon to deflect into Org Roxas' path, knocking Oathkeeper out of his hand. Kairi whirled back around at him and swung her Keyblade in an upward arc, slamming her blade upside Org Roxas' chin. She finished up her combo with a spinning back kick into the solar plexus, sending her opponent flying.

The reappearance of Wakka's smiling form gave Sora a chance to knock Axel back a few yards and regroup with his friends. Wakka's body twirled in a mesmerizing spinning motion as his hand effortlessly palmed his ball back from the rebound. As he glided to a stop like a figure skater from a triple axle, the Blitzball player grinned. "Back in the game, ya?"

"Is Pence okay?" Kairi asked.

Wakka gave her a quick nod. "He'll survive, but he's not going to be fighting again anytime soon." As Axel and the Org's Roxas recovered from their attacks, Wakka's eyes narrowed in concentration. "Been meaning to use this move for awhile." With that said, he began to spin his body on the spot. Wakka spun around faster and faster until he was nothing more than a blurring top of motion kicking up dust. An endless stream of Blitzballs began flying from this human tornado, bombarding both Axel and Roxas in a merciless onslaught.

Sensing that they needed some space to recover, Axel grabbed Org Roxas, leapt backward and disappeared through a portal of fire.

"Where'd they go?" Sora said, ruffling his bushy hair in confusion. Sora and Kairi looked around in slight bewilderment when they realized that the two Org members had teleported to the other end of the battlefield to give them a chance to recover from Wakka's Overdrive.

"How exactly did they do that?" Kairi wondered. "If they could've portaled away like that, why didn't they just teleport out of this area?"

_"My guess is either they can't or they won't,"_ Naminé replied. _"Other than Roxas' double, there seems to be something weird about Axel other than the memory shift..."_

After a few more seconds, Wakka's body finally slowed to a stop. As the dust cleared, he was seen tossing the ball to himself with one hand.

Sora blinked. "Where did all those Blitzballs come from?"

"How do you hide a giant metal door utensil in your pants?" Wakka responded.

"Touché."

* * *

"I miss Patrick," Demyx said gloomily, his voice cracking. "The tummy rubs, our nightly Skittles runs, the Pokémon marathons..." He blew his nose into his sleeve. "I miss my pet Heartless!"

Larxene rolled her eyes. "You're still crying about that? For the last time, he shouldn't have been playing in the hamper while I was doing laundry!" The Melodious Nocturne threw his arms around her and began sobbing. Larxene's body tensed up and said in a steely tone through her teeth, "If you're not off me in five seconds, I'll dice you into little, bite-sized pieces and feed your remains to the Heartless." She gave him an insincere smile. "Then you could make many Heartless happy all at once."

"You'd do that..." Demyx sniffed naively, "...for me?" Larxene shoved Demyx off of her with disgust.

"Do you two need a room?" Yuffie asked. "Because we could always come back and kick your butts later." Although it had been awhile since they had fought together, Yuffie, Tifa and Aerith had decided to team up against Larxene and a reluctant Demyx.

"You know, now that I think about it, some of these guys sound awfully familiar. Take that redhead for example..." Aerith motioned towards Axel who had just diverted the flames of Pence's flamethrower. "Is it just me or does he sound like Reno?" Yuffie waved her hand dismissively at the remark.

"Nah. All red-headed guys sound like that." Yuffie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "But this blonde-haired chick could pass off as a spokesperson for a burger joint."

Larxene let out an impatient sigh. "Typical. I get paired up with all the women."

"But I'm here!" Demyx pouted.

"I stand by my statement." She crossed her arms in front of her chest in an X-shape. The kunai sparked menacingly between her fingers. "The only thing I hate more than whiny, teenage brats are giant-chested prostitutes that think they're better than everyone else!"

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with having small, perky-" Aerith wrinkled her nose. "Why am I talking about this?"

In a flash of lightning, Larxene disappeared from her spot. In the next moment, Larxene clones swarmed the fighters in typical berserk fashion. It was a jumble of chaos as electricity ripped through the sky. Larxene afterimages bombarded the girls from almost every side.

Demyx only stood there holding his sitar tightly.

"Maybe if I stand really still, I don't have to get involved," he reasoned.

There were so many targets dashing about that it was hard to focus on any one Larxene. Tifa smashed her fist into a Larxene's chest, ducked underneath a swipe from behind, and whirled around with a spin kick only to be countered with a kick of Larxene's own resulting in a stalemate.

"You're a martial artist too, huh?" Tifa observed. Larxene lashed her arm out, backslashing her kunai across Tifa's voluptuous chest.

"Shut up and die already!" Larxene snapped. "You know how annoying it is to be the only registered female in an all-male group?" Tifa interrupted her rant with a boot to the head. Undaunted, a Larxene that was fighting Yuffie continued as if nothing happened. "Always having to deal with all the testosterone, everyone stealing your bras so your chest has no support, all the complaining after you threaten to make salsa dip in their carved out carcass whenever they poke your chest to check you're not a guy..."

"Yeah, well I got news for you, blondie." Yuffie stabbed Larxene in the gut with her giant shuriken, causing the clone to disintegrate back into nothingness. "There are no women in the Organization. Just girly-looking men." Yuffie glanced over at Tifa and winked. "Let's see...multiple enemies that look exactly alike grouped together and disappear in a flash of light after they take a certain amount of damage."

"Just like old times, huh?" Aerith chimed in, swiping her staff at another Larxene.

"I don't know. It feels like that Dead Fantasy about me," Tifa muttered. She began concentrating her power into her fist.

"When did you die?" Yuffie asked. Tifa's fist exploded with energy as she unleashed Final Heaven on a couple of targets. She gave a sideways glance.

"Don't ask."

"Wasn't it Aerith who died?" Annoyed slightly, Aerith pounded her staff into the earth.

"For the last time, it was my twin sister, Aeris!" She was starting to feel frustrated that her attacks kept missing their mark. Unlike Tifa and Yuffie, she wasn't much of a front-line fighter. It was by sheer luck that Larxene's defense-piercing attacks barely missed the neck straps that kept her top up.

Tifa suddenly sneezed and glanced around. Her eyes focused onto Jack Sparrow who looked to be having a private conversation with Sora's Heartless form. It made her feel slightly disconcerted that they seemed to be talking about her.

"What's that pirate doing?" The rumors of his lady-playing, pervy-romantic tendencies crept suspiciously into her mind. "He wouldn't..."

Larxene turned her glare toward Demyx, who decided to stay back all this time and out of the combat zone. "Are you going to stare at these big-breasted bimbos all day or are you going to actually fight?!"

"Are you crazy?!" Demyx whimpered. "It was one thing fighting against Roxas! And I could handle fighting Kairi..." He took a couple of steps back. "But fighting against Amazon she-males is out of the question!"

In a flash of light, one of the Larxenes appeared in front of Demyx, grabbed him by the collar and held her kunai under his nose threateningly.

"If you don't get out there and help me, you're going to find yourself suddenly bald." Demyx shrieked in horror.

"You wouldn't!" But her icy glare said it all. Demyx let out a defeated sigh. "Oh, alright." Satisfied she got through to him, Larxene let go of Demyx and fizzled out. He double-checked his sitar's strings and began strumming. With each note that played, water clones materialized out of the molecules hanging in the air. "Dance, water, dance!"

Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie backed into each other, completely surrounded by vast numbers of Demyx and Larxene clones. They were cut off from any outside help since everyone else was occupied with their own personal battles. To an observer, this scenario would look oddly familiar...

"Anyone have any ideas?" Tifa asked. "Or at least some Materia?" Aerith's eyes lit up. She turned to Yuffie.

"Do you still have that Materia you stole from Cid earlier?" The ninja girl's cheeks began to burn as brightly as Axel's hair.

"I didn't steal it!" Yuffie lied awkwardly. "I just...held onto it for a moment just like this." Aerith held out her hand and waited patiently. With a guilty look, Yuffie plunged her free hand into her outfit and rummaged around for a few seconds before pulling out a shiny, red crystal orb. Tifa gasped.

"You had a Summon Materia all this time?" Tifa couldn't help but be amazed that a relic of their past would be their salvation in their time of need. "Which one is it? Knights of the Round? Bahamut?" Aerith shook her head.

"I think Cid lost those ones years ago. This is the only Summon he had left." Grasping the Materia between her palms, Aerith closed her eyes and concentrated her inner power to unleash their trump card. "I summon the Deathblow of divine justice! Come to me...Chocobo!" Tifa and Yuffie blankly stared at her.

"What are you doing?" Tifa asked.

"What? I thought this situation called for an incantation or something." Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Right. Next you're going to be dancing with your staff to send the dead away."

"I think you're mistaking me for some other brunette in a frilly dress. Now hush, I'm trying to concentrate." Energy waves seemed to ripple off of Aerith as the red orb in her hand pulsated with light.

Tifa kept a weary eye on the mass of enemies around them. To her it looked like a moving pile of life-sized living water balloons peppered with the occasional black-cloaked blonde chick.

"I'm surprised that they're not attacking us yet." It was slightly unnerving to have so many enemies that could easily gang rape the girls, but all the water clones did was swish whimsically on the spot.

The Larxene that was closest to Demyx growled in frustration. "Will you get your damn clones out of the way?! You know what water does to me!" Indeed, the Larxenes were pulling their limbs closer to their bodies, trying not to pop a single water clone. The Melodious Nocturne couldn't help but sigh.

Without taking his eyes off his sitar, Demyx said, "First you're telling me to fight and now you're telling me not to?" He chuckled lightly. "I don't know Larxene. You could always use a shower every now and then." Larxene could only stare daggers at him, knowing full well that using any lightning attacks would cause a water popping chain reaction that'd be hazardous to everyone in the vicinity. It wouldn't have been a problem for a fearless woman like Larxene, but she knew the difference between causing pain on others and inflicting pain on herself.

"When I get my hands on you," Larxene began, "I'm gonna-"

_**"SQUAWK!"**_

"What was that?"

_"Kupo!"_ A headband-wearing, Moogle-ridden Chocobo appeared out of nowhere and began bowling through the hoards of clones with no care for its own personal safety. If it wasn't chaotic before, the hundreds of Demyx clones exploding would cause anyone to panic...

If you're vulnerable to water, that is.

Gallons of water gushed everywhere, soaking everyone in the vicinity. A symphony of screams pierced through the air as all but the original Larxene shorted out into electrical ions and Tifa learned the importance of why it's not a good idea to wear all leather clothing.

"You know..." Tifa squeezed some water out of her top, annoyance etched all over her face. "If I didn't know any better I'd think that you only control water to make girls feel soaking wet."

Demyx's gloved fingers ended his solo abruptly on a sour note and glanced up from his playing. He flinched at the sight of the dripping wet Chocobo staring curiously at him with its beak inches from his face. The repulsive smell of wet bird feathers filling his nostrils, Demyx let out a tiny girlish shriek and instinctively swung his sitar at the overgrown canary. The bird quickly ducked its neck, causing the Moogle on its back to take the hit instead. The poor creature was sent flying straight into Larxene, her soaked antennae drooping like limp noodles. It landed softly into her chest with a quiet _floomph._

Larxene's eyes flashed with extreme anger and annoyance at being personally violated. With extreme prejudice, she punted the tiny Moogle above everyone's heads and over the edge of a cliff. The Chocobo's head snapped up, forgot completely about Demyx and chased after its former passenger. And without another sound, it leaped over the edge as well.

Aerith narrowed her eyes at Larxene.

"Okay, that was just cruel and uncalled for." The Nymph tilted her head to one side.

"They were ticking me off," she huffed. Although she was still damp and powerless, it didn't make her any less dangerous. "But since you're the one who summoned them in the first place, that makes you responsible."

Before Aerith knew it, Larxene had covered the gap between them and started attacking wildly again as if the past few minutes had never happened. Demyx decided that it would be a bad idea to get any more involved than he already was and took a couple strides back.

"Larxy can handle this," he said to himself. But Yuffie spotted Demyx and began moving toward him.

"No backseat fighting!" she yelled. Leaving him with no choice but to fight, Demyx began strumming his sitar again. With each chord, pillars of water erupted from the ground, homing in on the Materia hunter's position.

"I'm not backseat fighting!" Demyx retorted. To prove his point, he summoned a geyser to propel him into the air and began riding across the field on his water pillars. Yuffie charged with unflinching determination, her weapon at the ready. Before Demyx could even cover 20 feet, Yuffie sliced through all of the water pillars in one smooth swipe, forcing him to the ground with a giant crash. "Ow!" He looked toward Larxene with a pleading look on his face.

Of course, Larxene couldn't care less about what was happening to her "partner." Even through the berserk fighting style she was currently implementing, she was clear-headed enough to know to aim for any weak points in her opponents. In this case, the combatant who wasn't physically strong enough.

Aerith swiped and rotated her staff as quickly as she could manage, but the constant speed of her opponent was proving it almost impossible to counter-attack. Tifa ran in to help her friend from being completely overwhelmed, but Larxene was ready for her.

Although it was a two-on-one fight, Larxene fought with the same intensity and stubbornness that her clones did. She constantly flitted back and forth between Tifa and Aerith. A punch here, a spin kick there...

It didn't occur to the women that there was a reason for Larxene's overcompensated movements. They found out the hard way when her kunai began to spark faintly at first. But the spark became more definable and stronger until finally Larxene managed to slash Aerith's bare shoulder with her kunai. The flower enthusiast was surprised to find that not only was she bleeding, but her skin was slightly burnt as well.

"I should thank you for helping me dry off," Larxene chuckled. "But that would mean that I actually respect you." Tifa took another swing at her, but with Larxene's element restored, her attack hit nothing but air. The Nymph suddenly appeared behind Tifa and scored a powerful kick into the center of the poor girl's spine.

As Tifa clenched at her back and attempted to will the pain away, Larxene turned her attention back to Aerith. "You know what I like most about your weapon?" With a toothy grin that would've competed with the Cheshire Cat's, she snapped her fingers. A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky and struck Aerith's staff. "It makes a great lightning rod." Aerith let out an agonizing scream as electricity painfully rushed through her body. The sight of seeing her enemies suffer by her hand instantly put Larxene in a good mood and she let out squeals of delight as Aerith collapsed to her knees.

"Aerith!" Yuffie abandoned the pouting Demyx and rushed over in an attempt to save her friends. Her boots padded against the damp earth as she got her shuriken ready. Larxene never turned her head as Yuffie swung her weapon across, only to be slicing through nothing but electrical trails as the Nymph disappeared in a flash of lightning.

Yuffie stayed rooted to the spot, bracing herself for a surprise attack. She looked toward Tifa, who was just starting to get back to her feet.

"Tifa! Are you two okay?"

"Nothing that I haven't felt before," Tifa assured Yuffie. "I don't know about Aerith, though." The martial artist made her way toward the collapsed flower girl, the leather fabric shifting uncomfortably against her body. "Yuffie, I-" She froze. "Look out!" The words barely escaped her lips when a bolt of lightning came rocketing through the sky and blasted Yuffie dead center. Sparks of electricity tore through her entire body and the ninja girl spasmed sporadically before she collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Familiar sadistic laughter tinkled through the air as Larxene reappeared, landing next to Yuffie's head. She crouched down and giggled as she stared down at her fallen opponent. "That's what you get for playing in my element, hentai girl." She caressed a kunai against Yuffie's cheek. "I'd almost feel bad if I weren't known as a sadistic, beautiful, sensuous..."

Yuffie's eyes snapped open. "And to think I'm supposed to be the immature one." Taking advantage of Larxene's astonishment, Yuffie spun her back against the dirt and whirlwind-kicked the blonde across the jaw. Larxene staggered back trying to recover from her shock. To her surprise, Yuffie was able to flip back to her feet and stand without a single burn on her body.

"What?! That's not poss-" She stopped in mid-sentence as Yuffie held up her wrist, showing off a jewel-encrusted bangle.

"Elemental and Lightning Materia. I don't even feel it." Larxene's eyes sparked dangerously as she realized that the elemental power that she relied on so much wasn't going to be enough to take down the Materia Hunter.

"You're REALLY getting on my nerves!" She crossed her arms and summoned two clones on each side of Yuffie, bringing the total of opponents up to six...

...if Demyx hadn't decided to sneak away through the confusion.

"Forget this! I'm going to go see if Zexy needs help!" Before Larxene could stop him, he summoned a water pillar and surfed his way out of range. Knowing a lost cause, she gave up on her reluctant partner and decided to finish the job herself.

"Fine then! I don't need anyone else anyway!" Each Larxene had a menacing grin plastered on their face. "This just means I get to kill you the old-fashioned way!" Yuffie glanced over at her friends.

"Tifa?" She was relieved when Tifa gave her a thumbs-up.

"She's unconscious, but alive." The black-leathered brunette took up Aerith's body and set it aside. Taking a stand next to Yuffie, she raised her semi-clenched fists and got into her battle stance.

Yuffie sighed. "So much for this fight being easy."


	40. The Reckoning (Part 3 of 4)

_"Hey, Kairi?"_

_"Yes, Sora?"_

_"Remember that note you sent? You know, the one inside that bottle?"_

_"What about it?"_

_"How exactly did you know that I would eventually receive it?"_

_"To be honest, I didn't."_

_"And you did it anyway?"_

_"Pretty much. But..."_

_"But what?"_

_"There's something that I didn't tell you."_

_"What's that?"_

_"That wasn't the only note in a bottle that I sent out."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Um, I really missed you and all, so I ended up tossing a bottle in the ocean every day."_

_"A bottle...every day?"_

_"Yeah..."_

_"So what you're saying...is that you littered the entire ocean with hundreds of bottles and hoped that at least one of them would've made it to me, even though it was a million-to-one shot that they would even leave this world?"_

_"This from the guy who could Super Glide great distances, but couldn't even manage to jump across five feet and left his future fiancée by herself in the first place?"_

_"Touché. Where exactly did you get all the bottles?"_

_"I walked with Selphie every day after school and bought a bottle of milk."_

_"And you were actually okay with buying milk every day?"_

_"Sora. You think I became this well-endowed without drinking enough milk?"_

_"What are you talking ab...oh."_

_"Sora?"_

_"Yes, Kairi?"_

_"Quit staring. My eyes are up here."_

_"Oh, sorry. Who would've thought that one letter would end up changing our lives?"_

_"It could be worse."_

_"How so?"_

_"The letter could've been some lame plot device that would send you on another adventure that involved searching for Riku for the third time in a row, stabbing yourself with the Keyblade and leaving me on the island acting as a Mary Sue...again."_

_"Heh. Maybe in some alternate future."_

* * *

"Well, isn't this a #$%ing predicament?" Cid and Marluxia's weapons were locked together as they struggled against one another. "What the hell are you supposed to be, sunshine..." Cid grunted. "...gay?"

"You insolent little..." Marluxia roared. Enraged, the Graceful Assassin shoved the Gummi mechanic away from their parry and swung his scythe straight down onto his head.

Before the blade made contact, Jack Skellington tackled Marluxia with enough force to temporarily stun him.

"Surprise!" Jack clapped Marluxia's head between his bony hands, further enraging the Graceful Assassin. Without even thinking, Marluxia spun the scythe in his hands and lashed out at the Pumpkin King, trails of petals streaming from the weapon's path. Using his unmatched flexibility, Jack bent the upper half of his body backward, the scythe whizzing by harmlessly. His upper half snapped upright and he twisted his bony face in the most grotesque expression yet.

"BOO!" Taken off guard, Marluxia instinctively took a step back. With Number XI distracted, Cid grabbed the opportunity to Dragon Dive from above. Skellington leapt out of range of the resulting explosion. The dust cleared to reveal Cid's spear wedged in the earth between Marluxia's legs. As Cid struggled to remove his spear from the ground, Marluxia jumped backward and swung his scythe, forming an energy wave that blasted its unlucky victim back with an enormous slash.

Meanwhile, Xaldin was getting increasingly frustrated with the Lord of the Jungle. Despite the six lance advantage, Tarzan was bobbing and weaving through every one of his swipes.

"Stay still, you animal!" As far as Tarzan was concerned, Xaldin's weapons were nothing more than a jungle gym. Although the Whirlwind Lancer was distracted by the opponent in front of him, the only other available fighter could only stand helplessly out of attack range. Because of his current human state, the former Beast knew he wouldn't have been able to react fast enough to dive into the fray.

_"Who would've thought that regaining my humanity would also give me back my sense of mortality?"_ the Prince thought.

**"ENOUGH!"** Xaldin roared. Metal crashed through wood as he smashed through Tarzan's spear, splintering it in two. As if in response, the human gorilla snatched one of Xaldin's floating lances and slashed it across its owner's face. Temporarily blinded, Xaldin lashed out with all six of his lances like a giant blade. Tarzan managed to leap on top of one of the outstretched lances, ran along its length and headbutted Xaldin in the face with a concussion-forced blow, forcing the Whirlwind Lancer to the ground.

Not wanting to lose the opportunity of fighting an opponent on more even terms, the Prince charged in, his claws at the ready. Unfortunately, the lack of speed gave Xaldin enough time to recover. A victim of momentum, the Prince's eyes widened as one of Xaldin's lances gutted straight through him like a fish. His hands attempted to close around the lance, trying to pull the obstruction out of him, but his strength was fading fast and the claws on his hands made it almost impossible to get a good enough grip.

"You made a better beast than a human," Xaldin scoffed. The mortally wounded Prince sank to his knees, unable to remain standing. Adding insult to injury, Xaldin effortlessly lifted the lance in the air with its victim still skewered.

"At least I wasn't beaten up by girls," the Prince coughed.

"Your precious Belle took me by surprise!" Xaldin cracked his lance like a whip, cleanly sliding its victim off and leaving him bleeding in the dirt.

Cid picked himself off the ground and rushed toward the dying Prince.

"Get out of here!"

"I'm...not through yet..." the Prince growled through gritted teeth.

"Now's not the time to argue! That was a clean thrust through your internal organs and I know for a fact that it's very rare that anyone can be in fighting condition from an attack like that!" Cid whipped around toward Jack. "Get him to safety! Me and Mr. Loincloth will hold them off!" Before the Prince could protest any further, Skellington scooped him up in his deceivingly thin arms and strode for safety.

"Belle..." the Prince silently cried, "...forgive me."

Tarzan's knuckles and feet padded along the dusty terrain as he strode up next to Cid and offered him back his dislodged spear. Cid gave a quick sniffle, wiping his nose with his thumb as he tightened his grip on the regained possession.

"Alright, you &*! #$!" He twirled the spear in his palm. "Bring it!"

"Come on!" Xaldin beckoned.

The two heroes lunged at Xaldin, vengeful intent flashing in their eyes. Xaldin charged to meet them, his Lindworms already pointed at their victims.

Cid hurled his spear directly into Xaldin's Aeroga shield where it immediately began hovering amongst the rest of the lances. Before Xaldin could contemplate why his opponent would deliberately sacrifice his weapon, Tarzan and Cid managed to grab a lance each and started attacking him with his own weapons. Number III tried to concentrate on summoning back his spears, but for every one that he managed to take back, another one was swiped in its place. The battle began to become reminiscent of a certain double-sided lightsaber duel.

All Xaldin could do was grasp a lance in each hand and parry oncoming attacks, forcing him to go defensive.

"Cid!" The Highwind pilot was briefly startled not by Tarzan's warning, but that he was actually speaking any English at all. Catching a sudden blur of pink out of the corner of his eye, Cid instinctively plucked his own spear out of the lances and parried Marluxia's scythe.

"Forgot about me?" Cid shoved Marluxia's weight off him and swiped his spear to give himself breathing room.

With the two Organization members surrounding them from both sides and without any other allies available to support them, Tarzan and Cid were effectively outmatched by Xaldin and Marluxia.

"Do you want to scream?" Marluxia asked, a cold smirk forming on his lips.

"Hey, that's my line!" The Pumpkin King sprang out from behind Marluxia and slammed his foot on the scythe, embedding it into the ground. Skellington followed up with a graceful spin kick to the face, knocking Marluxia's grip from his weapon. With an effortless twirl, Jack casually landed near Cid and Tarzan. "Are you two alright?"

"Nothing a Hi-Potion won't fix," Cid sniffed. "How's Mr. Chivalrous?"

"He'll be fine. He's being taken care of by that Pence fellow."

"You know, Xaldin..." Marluxia's body began to become engulfed by wisps of darkness. "I think we've been playing with these fools long enough."

Xaldin responded with a Cheshire-like grin. The Org members glowed with rapidly increasing brightness, signaling that they were ready to bring out their ultimate trump cards.

"What the #^ &!" Cid, Jack and Tarzan shielded their eyes from the sudden brightness.

"Stay on guard!" the Pumpkin King warned.

The light faded to reveal a giant humanoid Nobody that towered over the fighters. It resembled an angel of death with Marluxia's scythe in hand, his true power unleashed. Xaldin sidled up next to him riding his giant spear-formed dragon, its gaping mouth building up power.

"You'll now know REAL fear!" Marluxia taunted.

Jack scratched a spindly finger on his skull. "I'll give them credit for execution, but the presentation could've been better. One bright light doesn't exactly scream 'Fear me'."

Cid couldn't help but sigh. "What I would give to be fighting Shinra right about now?"

"#$%*$#," Tarzan said. Cid nodded.

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

* * *

"Hey, Tron?" Hayner pointed his blade at Lexaeus." What's your scouter say about his power level?"

"Well, according to these readings..." Tron furrowed his brow. "It's over nine..."

"Oh, will you two shut up already?!" Lexaeus snapped. "You know how annoying that stupid cliché is?! I mean, seriously!" His eyebrow twitched spasmodically.

"So much for being a 'Silent Hero," Tidus snickered.

"Are you guys serious?" Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose with the tips of his fingers. "That joke is so dated, it's not even funny."

"What joke?" Tron asked with a puzzled look.

"Move aside!" Saix snarled, pushing past Lexaeus. "These fools are dead!" Still powered by the faux Kingdom Hearts, he charged at Tidus and Hayner with berserk fury.

Not ones to back down from a challenge (even with the mismatch in power) the two boys lunged directly at the furious Luna Divider with their weapons at the ready.

His ragged blue hair flowing with energy, Saix whirled his claymore and slammed it down repeatedly, sending blue shockwaves that knocked Tidus and Hayner down gracelessly on their behinds.

While Saix was still intensely focused on the two teens, Tron attempted to slow down the berserker with a well-aimed throw to the face. The projectile almost hit its target when Lexaeus came in to swing his giant tomahawk, swatting back Tron's disc with such force that when Tron reached out to retrieve it, everything below his left elbow was blown off, leaving nothing but fragmented data bits in its place.

Tron collapsed onto one knee, staring at his digitally dismembered stump of an arm.

"Tron!" Leon rushed up to his wounded ally's side. "Hold on! I've got a..." He made a motion to reach for a Mega Potion, but his pockets came up mysteriously empty.

"I'm attempting to repair my data, but..." He gave Leon a worried look. "...I don't seem to have that ability here in the User world."

"Damn it! Where's Aerith when you need her?" Leon took a quick look around the battlefield and spotted Aerith being blasted by Larxene's lightning. "Okay, Plan B. Get to somewhere safe and see if you can find someone with a healing item." His Gunblade clicked as he shouldered it. "I'd go with you, but I can't leave the kids." Tron nodded.

"Understandable. Good luck." And with that Tron made for an escape to find sanctuary.

"Can't run!" Lexaeus shouted. A fiery aura burst from his body as he attempted to bumrush Tron with his giant girth.

**"NO!"** Leon's Gunblade shone with light as its owner raised it toward the sky. A single beam of light extended from the blade before Leon brought it crackling down into Lexaeus' path with a thunderous crash, forcing the behemoth to alter his trajectory.

Tron gave an appreciative nod toward Leon before making it to safety.

Meanwhile, Hayner and Tidus scrambled back to their feet, embarrassed and angry that they had been taken down so easily.

"Did that really just happen?" Hayner coughed. "To US of all people?"

"As Auron would probably say, 'This is your story and you're the comedy relief.'"

"Not on my watch!" Hayner's Gunblade clacked with fury. "Let's try this again!" Sharing a quick, subtle nod, the two boys ran at Saix for a second strike.

The Luna Divider had his eyes closed with his arms raised to the heavens, recharging his expended energy from the Kingdom Hearts in the sky. He seemed completely unperturbed that he was about to be attacked again.

Before they managed to get within five feet, Lexaeus' hulking body dropped from the sky and slammed the earth, causing powerful tremors to radiate from underneath his feet. The teenagers became nerve-rackingly numb as the quakes ripped through them. Hayner could barely control his body as the Gunblade began slipping from his shaking fingers. Tidus desperately tried to remain upright as he instinctively pedaled backwards.

Saix's eyes snapped open with renewed rage as he hurled his claymore at his closest target. Hayner tried to bring up his weapon to defend himself, but the sheer strength of the throw knocked the Gunblade flying out of his hands. He watched helplessly as the weapon twirled end over end until it pierced itself into the ground with a dull **"SHOONK!"**

"Hayner!" Tidus shouted. He attempted to run, but the teenager hadn't regained his equilibrium yet, causing him to trip over his own feet. Leon ran as fast as he could, but he knew he wouldn't make it in time.

**"BE GONE!"** Saix raised his claymore with killing intent in his eyes. Hayner cringed at the instrument of his destruction cutting through the air. It seemed that Saix would bring the underaged minor defeat count up to six...

...until a molten fireball slammed him in the face. As Saix roared with pain, Hayner could only stare in astonishment.

"Well, isn't this romantic?" came the familiar voice. Hayner's eyes widened as Seifer came walking in with his usual swagger. "Looks like you should've been the one to go back to Twilight Town." Hovering around his head was the unmistakable form of...

"Yuna!" Tidus cried. The faerie waved enthusiastically at him. "What are you doing here?!"

"I could ask the same to you," Hayner said as he quickly stood up, brushing himself off. Seifer smirked.

"I had some unfinished business with this loser," Seifer said, jerking his head toward Saix.

That's when Hayner recognized the weapon Seifer was wielding. "Hey! That's mine!"

Seifer only smirked, shouldering the newly acquired Gunblade. "You lost it, fair and square. Besides..." The weapon began to radiate with a faint, but powerful aura. "I think this fits me better than you."

"It wasn't easy to get here," Yuna explained. "Rikku and Paine are on the other side of this portal keeping the link open." She motioned toward a swirling, rainbow portal behind her.

"But won't the Organization be able to exit through this end?" Leon asked.

"No one can use this portal unless I allow them to."

"Well, we've got injured. Do you think you can transport them to safety?"

**"INCOMING!"** Seifer's warning snapped the group out of their conversation. Lexaeus and Saix charged at the group in a pincer formation.

"Hayner! Get behind me!" Weaponless, Hayner had no choice but to hide behind Leon.

"You little..." Saix's claymore scraped the ground behind him, his glowing eyes pierced Seifer with intense anger.

"Show me what you got!" Seifer raised the Gunblade. "I'll show you who's the better man!" The claymore slammed into the ground, causing a neon blue shockwave to pulsate outward. Unlike Tidus and Hayner, Seifer was able to jump high enough to avoid the attack.

"Come on! Don't leave me hanging!" Seifer taunted.

Meanwhile, Lexaeus and Leon were trading strikes and parries with each other. Leon almost felt his legs buckle as he took each earth-shattering blow as it came.

"Is this the best your heart can yield?" Lexaeus asked. Leon attempted to swipe underhand, but Lexaeus chose that moment to increase his power. With a giant's roar, a red and black aura engulfed his body. Leon struggled to maintain his footing, but was pushed back against the pressure released by the aura.

Lexaeus tossed his weapon up in the air and rammed his boot into the ground. The stomp caused rock formations to erupt from the earth, sending Leon flying into the air. In a single motion, the Silent Hero caught his tomahawk and slammed his foot down again. With the full weight of his giant frame and the heavy tomahawk, the ground was torn apart with stone pillars, battering the helpless "Squall."

Not to let their ally fight in vain, Hayner intertwined his fingers together to give Tidus the boost he needed to soar up into the air. Energy streams accumulated into his blade before transforming into blue fireballs that peppered the ground around Lexaeus' feet. The behemoth braced for the explosions, but nothing happened. He chuckled slightly.

"Is that all you've got, boy?"

"Wait for it..." As soon as the last word left Tidus' lips, the ground burst underneath Lexaeus where the fireballs had marked their territory. Not waiting for the dust to clear, Tidus plunged his sword into the ground and used it as a jumping point to hurl his body into the debris cloud.

He pirouetted in the air, flipped around and landed a solid bicycle kick straight into Lexaeus' rock-hard head. Despite the attack extinguishing the aura, Tidus' teenage body wasn't powerful enough to damage a reinforced body of iron.

Lexaeus' hand shot out and seized Tidus by the throat. Like a child throwing a rag doll across the room, Tidus' body was hurled straight into one of the landscape's natural rock pillars. His body went limp as Lexaeus smashed his tomahawk into the ground, forming a streamlined shockwave that tore through the earth.

Tidus could do nothing but endure the numerous stabs of rocks pounding across his body. It was when he finally stopped bouncing around that his mind registered how battle-sore he truly was.

"Tidus!" Yuna flew up to Tidus, grabbed his wrist and attempted to help him up.

With the annoyance out of the way, Lexaeus returned his attention back to Leon, who was struggling to stand up with the help of Hayner.

"Now where were we?" Leon's legs were still wavering as he maintained his glare at Lexaeus.

A few feet behind them, it had become apparent that Seifer was just toying with Saix. "Down boy! It's not my fault you were neutered at twelve!" Again and again, he jumped back and over Saix's shockwaves.

The head of the "Disciplinary Committee" kept backing up until he bumped into somebody behind him. He whirled around as his opponent did the same. Gunblade met Gunblade as Seifer and Leon clashed at each other's swords, almost cutting Hayner's head off. Leon raised an eyebrow with surprise.

"I thought you went back to your hometown, kid," he huffed. Seifer only smirked.

"And leave before showing off some of my moves? Dream on." He gave Leon and Hayner a sly wink before backflipping high into the air. Whirling around in midair to face Saix, Seifer swung the Gunblade as if drawing a cross onto the ground where the Luna Divider stood. Instantly a flaming cross engulfed Saix before the ground opened up from underneath, swallowing him into what looked like a flaming pit to the Underworld.

Hayner and Leon were awestruck.

"How are you able to wield the Gunblade so well?" Leon asked.

Seifer shrugged. "It just comes naturally, I guess."

"So, where'd he go?" Hayner asked.

"I honestly have no idea. I didn't even know I was able to do that." Seifer began calmly walking back toward Yuna's portal.

"Hey, Seifer!" The usually smug teenager stopped. "What happened to the others?"

"Oh, them?" Seifer waved his hand dismissively. "They're still back in Twilight Town. I just told them that I had a 'debt' to repay." He smirked. "Here, catch." Hayner jumped back slightly as Seifer's Gunblade stabbed into the earth just inches from where his left foot had occupied. "I'm done here." Puzzled, Hayner gripped the handle as Seifer gave him a quick salute goodbye before leaping through Yuna's exit.

After making sure Tidus was alright, Yuna began heading toward the portal herself when he stopped her with a gentle tug of her dress.

"Are you leaving?" Tidus asked.

"You should probably follow him," she replied with her back facing toward him. Yuna's cute face was gently etched with concern. "I don't want you to..." Tidus shook his head.

"Even if I'm not in the same league as Sora and Riku, I don't think I can just watch on the sidelines while my friends are fighting." Yuna considered this for a moment.

"Then I'll stay with you." She turned around and looked Tidus in the eyes with a shine of adoration. "I want to make sure you come out of this alive." Tidus smiled back at her.

"Thanks, Yuna."


	41. The Reckoning (Part 4 of 4)

_"Booyaka!"_

_"Selphie?"_

_"Finally found you, Riku! Everyone's been looking for you!"_

_"Sorry, I just needed some time to think."_

_"You're excited about the wedding?"_

_"...I guess."_

_"..."_

_"..."_

_"Riku? Is something wrong?"_

_"I...It's just..."_

_"You're not...still in love with Kairi, are you?"_

_"It's okay, Selphie. I've accepted the fact that Sora and Kairi were meant to be together a while ago."_

_"That still didn't answer my question. It **WAS** Kairi, right? Not Sora?"_

_"What is with everyone wanting to pair me up with Sora? You might as well just make me female."_

_"Maybe if you got a haircut every once in a while, you wouldn't have to be all bishonen..."_

_"Hm. Regardless, maybe I'm just destined to be alone. I mean, who would want to date someone who's been living in the dark for so long like me?"_

_"..."_

_"Selphie?"_

_***WHACK***_

_"Ow! Selphie?!"_

_"I thought Sora was supposed to be the dense one! Seriously!"_

_"Wha-"_

_"You're tall, you have killer cheese grater abs, are able to take care of yourself and the people around you, and even if you've been hanging around in darkness for so long, that doesn't mean that girls out there can't see the light within you! Take it from me, if you went up to a girl in town and asked her out, I'd bet Tidus' porn collection that she'd not only jump at the opportunity, she'd probably fling her body at you, wrap all her appendages like a leech and strangle you with love!"_

_"Selphie...Are you asking me out?"_

_"What? Of course not. I'm just telling you like it is. Besides, I'm already seeing this cute guy named Irvine. He's sweet, but I wish he'd stop flirting with every other girl he passes."_

_"Thanks, Sel...did you seriously just say I had cheese grater abs?"_

* * *

"Wouldn't it be easier just to trap all of these guys into books and get it over with?"

Zexion shot a bored-looking Xigbar a glare. "You try maintaining this pointless illusion."

"Uh, duh? I'm keeping everything solid and I'm still fighting."

The Cloaked Schemer brushed some ice crystals off his lexicon. "I still can't believe they actually put this in ice."

"Kinda reminds you of when we used to hide Xehanort's textbooks in Even's freezer, doesn't it?" Zexion raised an eyebrow.

"All I remember is when Ansem managed to catch you doing it."

"Yeah...those were good times." Xigbar clacked his weapon. "Okay, let's go spank some brats."

In a bizarre twist of fate (or just bad timing), Simba, Mulan, Aladdin and Hercules somehow managed to be the ones to take on the Organization members that controlled their battlescape.

Mulan tightened her grip around her sword. "I feel bad that Kairi had to be seen naked constantly by guys."

"Because you can sympathize?" Mushu blurted out from behind her head. Mulan's lips twitched at the outburst.

"Wait." Simba tilted his head in interest. "When did this happen?"

"Let's just say that being a woman in an all-male camp isn't exactly the best time to worry about hygiene." A slight shiver tingled through Mulan from the memory. "From what I've seen of the male body, I'm not all that impressed."

"Good thing I'm not human then," Simba replied.

"Heads up!" Xigbar let fly a flurry of gun arrows that rained down from the sky. Having trained for this type of attack under a training montage sung by Donny Osmond (Jackie Chan in the Cantonese version), Mulan managed to avoid the projectiles with a backspin and shot her arm out toward the Freeshooter. Flowing with the momentum, Mushu rocketed off of Mulan's outstretched arm and landed smackdab in Xigbar's face.

"Gah!" Xigbar clawed at Mushu. "Get off me, you gecko!"

"This is for turning a fellow dragon into one of your Heartless!" Mushu bit, scratched and tore out Xigbar's hairs with all the annoyance of an angry lizard. He eventually went for the eyepatch when Xigbar's hand shot out and managed to get a strong grip around the red dragon's throat.

The Freeshooter pointed a gun arrow at the dragon's neck. "Gotcha now!"

Mushu could feel the sharp point scrape gently at the surface of his throat. "N-now wait a minute! I'm a guardian dragon! You can't do this to me!" he croaked.

Xigbar smirked. "Oh yeah? Well, sucks for you then."

Always willing to save those in need, Hercules and Aladdin blitzed toward them. "Time for a little teamwork, right Herc?" The two linked arms and with an Olympic discus throw, Hercules hurled Aladdin at the Freeshooter. Xigbar refocused his aim toward the incoming "street rat."

"No contest," Xigbar muttered to himself. Taking advantage of the sudden shift in focus, Mushu spat embers into Xigbar's eye, causing the sniper to reel back in pain. That was the opening Aladdin needed to swipe Mushu and the gun as he rocketed past.

Landing lightly on his feet, Aladdin deposited Mushu onto Simba's back and gave Hercules a thumbs up.

"Just like against Hades and Jafar."

The Olympian Hero raised an eyebrow. _"Um...how is switching outfits the same as a i'fastball special?'"_

"Aw, you're no fun."

Xigbar wiped his eye with his sleeve. "You'll pay for that, you little punk!" He whipped his weapons around toward Aladdin and squeezed. Instead of the familiar clicks of his guns, he was surprised to find banana mush seeping onto his gloves. "What the-"

"Hey! I didn't know we were fighting Abu's uncle!" Aladdin teased.

Almost seething with rage, Xigbar summoned back his weapons out of Aladdin's hands and began charging up a shot. He was so focused on his prey that he failed to notice Mulan sneaking underneath his line of sight until it was too late. Her palm shot out and smacked Xigbar's chin, cancelling his charge shot. While he was still stunned, she grabbed his outstretched arms and slammed him onto the ground. Mulan pressed her foot on Xigbar's jugular.

"What? You thought I only fought with swords?" The Freeshooter shot a glance over at Zexion.

"Hey, Zexy! A little help?" Before anyone could stop him, Zexion's lexicon began to flip its pages rapidly.

"I guess I have no choice now, do I?" Reluctantly, Zexion recited the words _**"Fio libri vultus!"**_

Although they had seen the replays of his illusion techniques, experiencing them firsthand caught the fighters off guard as the brilliant light enveloped their vision. Xigbar took advantage by grabbing Mulan's ankle and twisting her leg off of his neck.

"Don't underestimate the Organization," he laughed before the light swallowed his form up.

The light fading, Hercules looked down at his hands and was surprised to find himself clad in an Organizaion cloak. Glancing up, the entire battlefield seemed to have been transformed from rocky cliffs to the center of a whirlwind of books. The only figures he could make out were five Organization cloaks, one of them looking particularly laughable over Simba's body. With Xigbar and Zexion both having their hoods up, it was almost impossible to tell who the real targets were without causing friendly fire.

Mulan and Aladdin were having similar experiences. The absence of any sounds from the ongoing battle made it clear that they were no longer in the same dimension. Books divebombed at them like birds of prey, making it difficult to concentrate on who was the enemy.

Aladdin was the first to act as he whipped out his scimitar and sliced oncoming books. "If you guys think I'm going to stop fighting because of something like this, you don't know me at all!" He whirled around and charged at the nearest cloaked figure. Seeing him approaching with malicious intent, they didn't hesitate to reciprocate his fiery blitz.

Before any blows could be thrown, the giant, hulking creature in an Organization cloak used its head to get inbetween the combatants.

"Simba? Wha-"

"Aladdin! Mulan! You really don't want to be fighting each other." The Lion King targeted one of the floating Organization members and slammed him with freight train force. The entire illusionary world shattered apart, dumping the combatants out of Zexion's book world. The Cloaked Schemer clutched his ribs in pain, staggering away from Simba.

"How? How could you see through my illusions?" Simba slowly slinked toward his opponent, his paws barely making any sounds across the earthly surface.

"We're animals. We don't need to see our prey to find them." An unwavering growl was bubbling behind Simba's words. "I believe the phrase Riku used was that _'you reek of darkness.'_"

Mushu popped out from Simba's mane. "That's not the only thing he reeks of." The little dragon pinched his snout. "When's the last time you washed that cloak?" Zexion was about to snap back with a not-so-witty one-liner when Mushu spat a fireball into his face. "Sorry! I thought you'd prefer dry cleaning."

"You and Timon should get together some time," Simba said. "You could be interspecies twins."

"How so?"

Simba gave him a wily smirk. "You both talk a lot and you have the same body shape and size."

Mushu's jaw dropped at the crack. "You're actually comparing me to a meerkat, Mr. 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King?'"

Aladdin scratched underneath his fez. "What is with those two?"

Mulan shrugged. "I don't know, but if you replace Mushu with a donkey and give Simba the voice of Antonio Banderas..."

"At least Mushu's not as bad as Jafar when it comes to lousy puns," Aladdin replied. "Seriously, there should be a 'Pun Count' display popping up whenever he fights."

Hercules pounded his fist into his palm, causing a minor shockwave. "No more illusions!" Completely relying on his godly strength (completely forgetting that he had a sword), he lowered his head and bull-charged at Zexion. The Cloaked Schemer managed to brush the embers from his eyes only to be greeted to the sight of the bulky Olympian blitzing toward him. "You won't escape!" Herc cried. Suddenly, a portal of darkness burst open in front of a surprised Zexion and out popped Demyx, who almost crashed into him.

"Zexy! Is there anything I can do to..." Demyx's head whipped toward the heroic juggernaut barreling toward him. "Help."

**WHAM!**

Demyx's face slammed forward into Zexion's, forcing the two to become liplocked. The trio crashed to the ground with poor Demyx being sandwiched between the other two men. The impact of the fall left all three men unconscious.

Xigbar let out a slow whistle. "Oookay. A huge, sweaty muscle guy riding on top of a goth and a punk star."

As if on cue, Vexen came gliding up from his escape and took one look at the pile of testosterone. "If that isn't yaoi in action, I don't know what is."

With the illusion's creator out of the picture, the rocky environment flickered and faded to reveal the mirrored landscape that it once was. The sounds of battle lowered a few decibels, but the intensity remained unfazed by the sudden change in scenery.

Mushu sniffed. "Oh, that's not good."

* * *

"By the way, how's Max? Is he still going out with that girl?" Riku snapped his fingers as he struggled to remember the name. "What's her name, Roxanne?"

"Yup! She reminds me of Maxie's mother."

"I've been wondering; who exactly bIS/b his mother?" Goofy's cheerful demeanor immediately turned solemn. Donald poked Riku on the arm and motioned him to come closer.

"That's still a sensitive subject," Donald whispered into Riku's ear. "It's best to leave it alone."

The final group of remaining heroes consisted of Riku, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ariel and Auron against the Superior himself.

"Six against one?" Ariel bounced the Blitzball against the earthen floor. "This doesn't seem fair." Xemnas only chuckled.

"You are correct. Maybe I should fight all of you blindfolded."

"Hey, worked for me," Riku retorted.

"Xehanort!" With a serious glint in his eye, the King charged at Xemnas with Donald and Goofy trailing behind him.

"Like I told you before..." The Superior's blades clanged against the King's Keyblade. "...it is Xemnas." He aimed a boot at Mickey, punting him straight into Donald.

"Your majesty!" Goofy cried. He was in slight shock from seeing his friend being kicked like a football. As Goofy ran to help Mickey and Donald up, Auron decided that he had finished sizing up the situation and prepared to attack. He heaved his giant blade over his shoulder and glared at Xemnas.

"Your pain shall be two-fold." Holding his blade out, Auron reached over to his right hip expecting his jug to be there only to be surprised at his empty hand. Patting down his haori, Auron's good eye narrowed as he muttered "Sparrow."

"What is with guys and flashy attacks?" Ariel wondered out loud. "Sometimes the simple things work the best." She hiked up her dress, balanced the Blitzball on her foot and blasted it with her long, powerful legs. Despite the projectile hurtling toward Xemnas at breakneck speed, the Superior barely gave it a glance. With split-second precision, Xemnas whirled around and whacked the Blitzball back with his boot. The ball rocketed smackdab in the middle of Ariel's forehead with a sickening snap.

"Ariel!" Donald and Goofy gasped. Auron immediately ran up to her limp body and checked for a pulse. After a few heart-stopping seconds, he looked up at Riku. "Don't worry. She's still alive."

"Get her to safety." Riku brushed his bangs out of his face. "We'll take him on."

Auron hoisted Ariel's body into his arms. "No mercy," was all he said before carrying the unconscious woman to a safer place.

Riku and Xemnas stared into each other's eyes, completely void of any emotion.

"So it has come to this." Xemnas let out a slow chuckle. "Are you sure that you can defeat me by yourself?"

"How many times does this make it? Three fights now?" Riku sighed. "Is this going to become the theme from now on? Some form of you becoming the final boss every time the plot needs an antagonist?" The two combatants rushed at each other, their blades locking in a test of strength.

"You are correct that I still exist. But have you ever considered asking yourself why?"

"Honestly..." Riku broke the stalemate by plunging his knee straight into Xemnas' stomach. "...I don't care." His silver hair streaked behind him as Riku whirled around and slammed his Way to the Dawn into the Superior's left side. "That's for crippling me with a limp!"

Meanwhile, Goofy had managed to get both his friends back on their feet.

"Are you shore you two'll be okay?"

Donald muttered some undefinable obscenities before saying "We're fine."

"Ah think those anger management classes are working, Donald," Goofy said. "Remember when yur temper used to flare up?"

Donald sighed, rubbing his beak. "Don't remind me. Daisy burned my Paperinik costume because of that."

"I think it's our turn," King Mickey said. Donald and Goofy glanced at each other, confused. "Come on, fellas! Sora's not the only one to wield a Keyblade, right?" His Majesty put his hand out inbetween the other two. It took a few moments before the magician and knight realized what Mickey meant. Placing a hand each on top of Mickey's, an aura of power began building to signify the strength of their friendship with each other. Just as Sora, Kairi and Riku had done before, it was their joining that unlocked their ultimate attack.

Riku ducked, dodged and parried Xemnas' attacks, struggling not to end up crippling the rest of his body.

"What is the matter, boy?" Xemnas taunted. "No more quips?" Riku used a Dodge Leap to get behind Xemnas before taking a few more steps back.

"How about I let my friends do the talking for me?" Riku gave Xemnas a mocking wink. The Superior narrowed his eyes in confusion when...

**"BREAK!"** The Disney trio flew from behind Xemnas and began battering him from all sides with numerous blows.

"Wha-" Xemnas instinctively put up a Spark Wall to give himself breathing room, but his attackers were already behind him.

**"MAJOR DRIVE!"** Before he could recover, the Superior found himself being peppered with small, yellow orbs that sprayed out of Goofy's shield.

**"ULTIMA!"** Xemnas was launched into the air, barraged with dozens of firework explosions summoned by Donald's wand. From his airborne position, he floated helplessly in the gravity well as the trio prepared for their finisher.

**"ALL FOR ONE..."** Goofy raised his shield.

**"...AND ONE FOR ALL!"** Donald channeled his power into the wand, placing it against Goofy's weapon.

**"LIGHT, GIVE US POWER!"** The King's Keyblade glowed with sparkling light as Mickey completed the unity.

_**"TRINITY LIMIT!"**_ A huge sphere of energy warped around the airborne Xemnas, engulfing his body with blinding light. Riku's eyes narrowed as he tried to see through the explosion.

"Did we do it?" Goofy wondered. As visibility returned to normal, the lone figure of Xemnas was seen still standing upright with his cloak charred and smoking.

"Of course not." Riku mentally slapped himself for the oversight. "Sora, Kairi and I already tried this." Gritting his teeth, he raised his Keyblade again. Although Xemnas thought himself to be above emotions, it was clear that he was starting to become annoyed.

"Why don't you vanish?" Xemnas dashed forward to attack the "Duck Magician" in defense mode, only for his attack to be countered by Goofy's shield. Mickey went underneath Xemnas' guard and whacked the Keyblade upside his chin. Xemnas used his backward momentum to flip himself upright and took another stab at his opponents only to be parried by Riku. Although the heroes had the numbers advantage, it only meant that the Superior had more targets to hit.

Surrounded from all sides, Xemnas' body sparked with electricity as he enveloped himself with a giant blue sphere of light, forcing the combatants back. Long piercing beams blasted out of his protective barrier in random directions, sweeping across the battlefield. Riku managed to repel the attack with an expertly-timed Dark Shield while Goofy and the others ducked behind his own shield.

"First Roxas, now Xemnas." Riku instinctively reapplied the shield as the beams began travelling the other way. "What other laser-based attacks have you people been holding onto?"

The sphere dissipated with Xemnas preparing to teleport within a shroud of darkness. Without warning, a portal of fire ripped a hole in space behind him. Axel and Org Roxas popped out and took deep breaths.

"If I ever see another Blitzball again..." Axel caught a glimpse of Ariel's Blitzball out of the corner of his eye. His glare literally burned holes into the ball, eventually causing the sphere to spontaneously combust into ashes. Then he noticed Xemnas. "Oh, hey Xemnas. Didn't realize you were here."

"Axel, you were supposed to assassinate Sora and Kairi. Why..." Xemnas trailed off as the battlefield flickered back into its liquid mirror state. "What-"

"You're not getting away that easily!" The fighters looked up just in time to see Sora dropping down from the sky with Kairi in tow. The Keyblade Master daintily landed on his feet and easily caught Kairi in a princess cradle.

_"Sora! It's Xemnas!"_ Naminé cried. Sora helped Kairi to her feet, making sure to steady her with his hand.

"Alright, Xemnas!" He pointed his Keyblade with a dramatic flourish. "Let's finish this!"

"Cursed fools." The Superior's eyes narrowed as he sized up the situation. It was now the Disney and Destiny Island trios plus Roxas and Naminé against Axel, Org Roxas and himself. "What have you done to our battlefield?"

_"Don't look at us,"_ Roxas responded. _"We were just as surprised as you were."_

"Sora?" Kairi looked up into Sora's beautiful blue eyes. "You can take your hand off my butt now." Sora quickly withdrew his hand away as if her shapely posterior had bit it.

"You honestly have no idea, do you?" Xemnas let out a slow, taunting chuckle. "I am talking about the wedding, of course." This got everyone's attention.

"Don't tell me that you had something to do with the wedding!" Kairi gave a toss of her head, flinging back some stray hair that had managed to drape across her face.

"That's not possible!" Mickey cried. "Ansem the Wise told me himself about the wedding clause!"

"Did he?" Xemnas shook his head. "Or did you happen to receive a letter that was coincidentally delivered to your castle a few days after you believed to defeat me? Perhaps a letter that was written in advance in case that fool-hearted Ansem disappeared?"

"Wait..." Donald looked over at Goofy with surprise. "So, Goofy was right?"

The engaged couples couldn't believe their ears. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't.

Was the entire wedding...

...their feelings for each other...

...the whole purpose of this gathering...

...a lie?

Xemnas took advantage of their hesitation and rushed at Kairi while her guard was down. Fortunately for her, Sora snapped out of his stupor first.

"Kairi, look out!" Just as Riku had done with Sora against Final Xemnas, Sora shoved Kairi out of the way as Xemnas' weapon made full contact with the Keyblade Master's leg. Everyone was taken by surprise as sparks began spurting out of the newly opened cut.

_"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"_ Roxas cried.

_"What's wrong?! What happened?!"_ Naminé yelled.

_"He hit the Codebreaker!"_

"The what?!" Kairi couldn't believe her ears. "You mean that thing was actually a plot device?" Reality began to warp around Sora's leg, the fabric of space and time glitched and swirled with disorienting force. Uncaring giant winds sweeped everyone within the area off the ground, both heroes and Organization members alike. Kairi became disoriented and nauseous as images of battle merged and blurred across her field of vision.

...Aerith being stabbed through the chest with Xaldin's lance; Cloud yelling "Not again!"...

...Hercules holding back Lexaeus' tomahawk in a test of strength...

...Pence, Tron, Ariel and the Prince, heavily wounded...

...Sora and Riku yelling something at her, but unable to be deciphered...

All of these events seemed to flash rapidly before Kairi's eyes before her entire world turned to darkness...


	42. Replicas and Fanservice

"Are you serious?!" The outburst caught the attention of a certain silver-haired teenager. Seeing his short, black-haired friend slumped over the keyboard with disbelief written all over her face was a cause for great concern.

"What's wrong?"

Her aqua-blue eyes were dimmed with weariness as the girl raised her head and looked up at him. "I've been following this fanfic about Kairi and Naminé fighting the Organization that's been building up to this huge climatic battle...only for it to end with something out of left field."

He leaned over her shoulder to get a closer look at the screen. "Are we in it?"

"Apparently we only get a breaking the fourth wall cameo that has nothing to do with the story."

"So we're just filler material?"

"Pretty much." She leaned back in her seat, pondering. "But something else has been bothering me ever since the whole thing started."

"What's that?"

"Since I have all of Sora's memories, I should be attracted to girls, right? And yet I couldn't help but feel jealous that Naminé was the one to marry Roxas. Does that make me straight, bi or selfcest?" The boy flashed her an amused grin.

"Depends. Do you have any attraction towards me?" he asked.

"Why? Are you asking me out?" she countered.

"Well, you've got Sora's memories and I have Riku's. It almost puts the whole yaoi pairings into canon if you think about it." The girl's eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and disgust.

"That's...an interesting way to put things."

"Actually I've been meaning to ask you. I know that I don't, but since we both have artificial bodies, does that mean you have...you know..." His eyes flickered across her body. "...down there?" She blushed and gave him a disturbed look.

"Honestly? I don't think that's any of your business. But now that you mention it, did Vexen really have any reason to create those little details for either of us? I mean, we're replicas intended to replace our originals. I think the last thing he would be concerned about is if either of us got laid. Especially to each other," she added in afterthought. The silver-haired replica stared at his companion in awkward silence. "What?"

"I think you've been on the computer for too long." He motioned toward the door. "Come on; let's get some sea-salt ice cream. My treat."

It took less than a second for the Kairi look-alike to make a decision. "Oh fine, if you insist," she giggled. "I want the chocolate-dipped one, though."

"It's a date."

* * *

Kairi felt a warm, pleasurable sensation over her heart. Despite the dreary cold of battle, her muscles twitched as it sent tingles of titillation throughout her entire body. In fact, it felt sort of...moist.

Her eyes snapped open. To her unending and undying embarrassment, she realized that her chest had been smothering Sora's face.

"Kyaaa!" She quickly shifted her body weight off of him and instinctively slapped Sora. "You pervert!"

_"Uh, Kairi?"_ Naminé seemed to be just as creeped out and confused as Kairi was. _"This is Sora we're talking about. He would never willingly place his mouth on your b-"_

"Oh my gawd!" Kairi placed one hand underneath his head and used the other to gently pat his face in an attempt to wake him up. "Sora, are you alright?!"

"...squishy..." was Sora's mumbled reply. Kairi rolled her eyes before leaning in and giving him a quick peck on the lips. Sora immediately sat up as if shocked with adrenaline.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Kairi teased. Sora took one look at her and immediately reddened. He quickly turned his head away from her, holding up a hand to block his sight. Confused about his reaction, she couldn't help but be concerned. Slinking closer, she asked "What's wrong?"

"K-Kairi...your clothes..." Kairi finally noticed a gentle breeze playing across her skin. She glanced down and found that every article of clothing she had been wearing had mysteriously vanished.

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed as she quickly covered her naughty bits. "Why am I naked?!"

_"It was probably the Codebreaker,"_ Naminé muttered darkly. _"Here, let me take over and my outfit should appear, right?"_ Kairi's hair tinkled into a brilliant blonde as Naminé's form took over. "Okay, how's that?" Sora took another glance toward the girl before quickly averting his head again.

_"Oh...wow."_ Roxas' voice strained as he struggled to keep his voice neutral. _"Could you look again? I don't think we got a good enough view."_

This time it was Naminé's turn to blush as she quickly covered herself. "What's going on?! Why am I naked too?!" Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she whirled around to see Riku holding out a small scrap of fabric toward her. His eyes were closed as well. "Gee, thanks, Riku," Naminé said sarcastically. "This should be enough to cover at least one of these." Riku ignored the sarcasm, chalking it up to stress and embarrassment.

"Just trust me on this one." Curious, Naminé took the piece of cloth. "Now try transforming back." As Naminé changed back into Kairi, the girls were surprised that their outfit rematerialized completely whole. "You can't create clothes out of nothing," Riku explained. "Even a little piece of fabric is enough. It's like a graft. Just a little piece can cause the cells to replicate and heal themselves."

Kairi readjusted her top and cleared her throat. "You can look now, Sora." As Sora finally turned to face her again, something dawned on her. "Wait. How'd you know it worked if your eyes were closed?"

Riku shrugged. "I was blindfolded for about a year, remember? I can still "see" without relying on sight."

"Okay, I'll give you that. But why did you two get to keep your clothes? And what happened to that cheat device?"

"I was stripped of my Drive Form. Does that count?" Without the Codebreaker, Sora's outfit had reverted back to its normal state. "As for the second question..." Sora patted down all of his pockets. "Nope, I think it's gone."

_"Still, Naminé..."_ Roxas sounded like he was in a daze. _"That was the most-"_

_**"MIND CRUSH!"**_ Naminé interrupted. Roxas was silent for a moment as the memory witch quickly modified her moment of nudity.

_"-traumatic sight of my entire life!"_ Roxas finished, unaware of what just happened. _"Why was Riku wearing a G-string?!"_ Afraid that Naminé might modify his memory too, Sora kept his mouth and inner dialogue shut. Riku gave Sora a knowing look, but was also relieved he didn't have to explain how he kept his clothes.

Kairi finally took note of their surroundings. They were back in the charred ruins of the wedding hall. She also realized that besides Sora and Riku, there were no other occupants in sight.

"What happened? Where's everyone gone?"

_"If they're not here, they're probably back in the Garden of Assemblage,"_ Naminé guessed.

Kairi immediately stood up. "Then what are we waiting for? We have to get back there!"

But Riku shook his head. "I don't think that's possible. It took pretty much an army just to get through that mineshaft full of Heartless and Nobodies."

"But Riku..." Sora placed a hand on her bare shoulder and smiled.

"It'll be alright. They're fighters. They'll be able to take care of themselves." Kairi took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. With one worry pushed away to the back of her mind, other questions began to take its place.

"So what exactly happened? Last thing I remember was reality turning into a surrealism piece and then Sora's mouth was suckling on my..." Kairi shuddered from the memory. Riku streaked his fingers through his long, silvery hair.

"I honestly have no idea. I woke up a few minutes before you two did."

Kairi noticed that the light streaming through the windows seemed faint. "Wait a minute. How long were we in there?"

_"It's been a few hours, give or take,"_ Roxas said. _"There was the whole search, destroy and rescue missions we had to go through before making our way to you two."_

Sora clasped his fingers behind his head and leaned back in thought. "All I know is that we're losing daylight." As soon as the word 'daylight' left his lips, any traces of sunlight were completely extinguished. Sora blinked. "Is it just me, or did the sun just get swallowed up?"

Suddenly, the entire building began to shake, causing the pillar supports and walls to lose their structural integrity.

_"It's not safe here!"_ Roxas cried. The group quickly broke for the doorway, only for the rafters to conveniently crash right in front of them, blocking their exit.

Not to give up so easily, Riku pointed toward a broken window thirty feet above their heads. "Through there!"

Kairi was about to protest when she remembered that she now possessed most of Sora's skills. Whatever he could do, she'd be able to. Kairi planted her feet firmly on the ground, pirouetted up into the air, pulling off a perfect Aerial Dodge, and landed gracefully on the window's ledge. She looked back over her shoulder and was surprised that Sora and Riku were gaping at her with astonishment.

"What? You didn't think I could do it?" she giggled.

_"Guys, you can stare at her butt later!"_ Naminé called. _"Get up here already!"_

As soon as they made it to a safe distance from the wedding hall, the party let out a collective sigh of relief.

"If the chapel collapses during a wedding, does that mean bad luck?" Kairi wondered out loud.

_"Only for the people unlucky enough to still be inside the building,"_ Naminé responded.

Both Sora and Kairi turned to Riku. "So what's the plan, Riku?"

The Dawn Wielder gave the engaged a funny look. "Why are you guys assuming that I always have a plan?"

_"Because you're tall,"_ Roxas quipped. _"Do we really need a reason?"_

Riku massaged his forehead with his thumb and forefinger as he contemplated a new strategy. Meanwhile, the earthquake tremors were growing stronger in frequency, causing newly created construction sites throughout the town to collapse. After a minute, he opened his eyes. "Okay, first things first. We've got to find out what happened to everyone. Sora, you head into town and check to see if anyone needs help. Even with a defense system to prevent attacks, the town still needs a physical body to tend to the wounded."

"So you're practically sending me on a side mission?" Riku shrugged.

"Considering that every single world we've been in was a side mission, this shouldn't be any different. I'll go see if there's any other entrance into the Garden of Assemblage that we might have missed."

"You mean besides the one outside the-" Sora's words were drowned out by another building collapsing, keeping Riku from noticing that he had spoken.

"Kairi, you'll have to..." Riku trailed off as he realized that her jaw was locked open with her eyes widened in horror. "Kairi? What's wrong?"

"Um...Sora? Riku?" Kairi pointed skyward with a shaky hand. "Remember when you said you two fought against Xemnas in giant armor?"

"Yeah?"

The blood had drained from her face giving her skin a grayscale look. "Was he **THAT** big?!" The boys slowly turned to look at what she was pointing at. To their horror, the entire sky was filled with the form of Armor Xemnas. Only the upper half was visible as the rest of his body disappeared behind the horizon. The group stood in astonishment as one of his giant clawed hands slammed on top of Villain's Vale.

Instead of being crushed, the fortress seemed to shimmer before being replaced with empty void leading to the Realm of In Between. Almost as if it were erased.

"It's just like when the Heartless destroyed our home!" Sora realized. "Instead of being consumed by darkness, it's being consumed by nothingness!"

_"It's the end of the world,"_ Naminé lamented. But Riku shook his head.

"No." He gave the survivors a gloomy look. "This is the end of reality."

The five of them watched helplessly as pieces of Radiant Garden were enveloped by nothingness. After a few moments, Kairi let out a deep exhale and began unzipping her dress.

"Uh, Kairi?" Riku asked slowly. "Why are you taking off your clothes?"

Kairi gave him a wry smile as her face color began to match Axel's hair. "I've been stripped so many times, I figure it's only a matter of time before it happens again." She noticed Sora beginning to mirror her embarrassment. "If I'm going to be naked, I might as well do it myself instead of waiting for some perverted attack to shred my clothes to pieces."

"Don't you think that's going a little too far, Kairi?" Sora turned away and locked his gaze onto the giant behemoth, willing himself not to let his eyes wander toward his disrobing fiancée.

Naminé sighed. _"Sorry guys, but I think Kairi's finally starting to crack."_


	43. The Obligatory Ship Battle

"This should work, right?" After Kairi snapped out of her stupor (and put her clothes back on to the moaning disappointment of fanservice lovers), the group decided there was only one course of action...

...shoot a giant laser at Xemnas.

"If there's anything that can defeat a giant creature like that, it'd be the combined power of our hearts," Riku reasoned. "It worked for us before, so it should work here." The others couldn't think of any reason not to. The group joined their Keyblades together and took aim at the giant behemoth. Light congregated around the Keyblades tips as they opened their hearts and let their bonds of friendship flow freely. With their hearts joined as one, a thick beam of white light burst from their Keyblades and blasted Xemnas in the shoulder.

Unfortunately, despite the Keyblades' combined power, the attack was as effective as shooting a tank with a staple gun.

Sora couldn't believe his eyes. "That attack should've done something!"

"It did do something." Riku pressed his lips together in contained frustration. "It told him exactly where we were."

"Wait a minute!" Kairi pointed at a tiny pinpoint hole where their beam had hit. Xemnas' armor began to evaporate into fumes of darkness before their very eyes. They could make out underneath the armored shell was a jumble of lengthy steel and yellow glass. "They look like...buildings?"

_"What the..."_ The sight of the shadowy buildings began to stir something up in Roxas' memory. _"Why do those look so familiar?"_

"Remember when we were up against his Dragon?" Riku asked. "We were flying over those exact same buildings."

Roxas gasped. _"The Dark City? From the World That Never Was?"_

"So, Xemnas has become a city? That's..." Sora ruffled his bushy hair.

"Pretty lame?" Kairi guessed.

_"Great. Now we have to fight against some unused concept art,"_ Naminé muttered. _"Any other ideas, Riku?"_

"Please. He's just like Batman," Kairi joked. "Only he doesn't spout 'My parents are deaaaaaad!' every few seconds."

Sora grinned. "What are these PAIR-ANTS you speak of? Are they like cockroaches?"

"Speaking of parents, I'm surprised your mom wasn't one of the guests, Sora."

A faint blush began to tint the Keyblade Master's face. "Er...yeah, about that..."

_"Don't tell me you forgot to tell her?!"_ Naminé exclaimed.

"Are you serious? All these months and you didn't say anything?" Kairi threw her hands up in mock hopelessness. "That's it. Next time, I'll handle the wedding invitations."

"Next time?" Sora repeated. "You mean you're going to leave me and get married again?"

_"You know, Kairi, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea,"_ Naminé teased. _"You could totally find someone more competent after this is all over."_

"Hold up." Riku gave the girls an incredulous look. "Are you telling me that divorcing was an option out of that stipulation and you've now just realized this?" Then he shook his head, causing his silvery hair to ripple across his shoulders. "Whether Xemnas was bluffing or not can wait until later. Right now, we need to take the fight to him and I think I've got another idea." He broke into a run with Sora and Kairi tailing him. The trio streaked through the vacant cobblestone streets, ignoring the behemoth that was mindlessly absorbed pieces of the world into its collective girth.

Kairi suddenly skidded to a halt. "Wait!"

"What? Is it something that can help us defeat Xemnas?" Sora asked.

"Um, no..." Kairi pointed toward a rare concept in their universe: an outdoor public restroom. "I've been holding ever since I was abducted and there weren't any bathrooms in that cove!"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Fine. But, hurry up!" Kairi immediately disappeared behind the labyrinth entrance. "I swear, girls and their weak bladders. Am I right, Sora?" When he was met with silence, the Dawn wielder realized that Sora had disappeared. "Sora?" A loud flush echoed throughout the din of destruction followed by Sora calmly walking out of the men's side.

"Sorry, Riku. I've been holding since before the wedding vows. What were you saying?"

The tall bishonen sighed. _"There are not enough facepalms to display the frustration I've experienced today,"_ Riku thought. Out loud, he said, "Never mind, Sora. It's not important."

A few minutes later (_"There was no toilet paper!" Kairi complained_), the group made it to the Gummi Garage where the wedding guests' transportation vehicles were parked. Riku calmly walked over toward a familiar-looking apparatus with an aqua gift bow wrapped around its handle and a _"Just Married"_ sign on its rear.

Kairi gasped. "Isn't that a Sidecar Glider?"

"It was actually going to be my wedding present for the two of you, but I guess now would be a good time as any to take it for a spin."

_"Wow, Riku! This couldn't have come cheap!"_ Naminé exclaimed, to which Riku shrugged.

"Actually, it wasn't that hard to collect the munny. I just went to Yen Sid's tower and abused the Gamblers in the Moon Chamber." Riku gave them a wry smile. "Who knew that they could be so generous?"

Sora's face looked as excited as if he had just been given a free 'Triple-Chocolate Sea-Salt Supreme Sundae.' "In that case, I'm driving!"

"Wait a minute!" Kairi snapped. "Why do you get to drive?"

Sora gave her a quick smirk. "I've got a license!"

"Yeah, to drive a Gummi ship!"

_"Besides, don't you usually crash?"_ Naminé added.

"That hasn't happened for a while now!" Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"Sora, you crashed the Gummi ship on the way here. Last I heard, Chip and Dale's bill was almost double the catering expenses."

"Are you two finished or are we just going to wait for the end of the world?" Sora and Kairi turned toward Riku already in the driver's seat. The couple nodded at each other in silent truce before realizing that there was only one platform connected to the glider. "This wasn't exactly built for three people. You're going to have to squeeze together."

_"Isn't that a bit dangerous?"_ Naminé asked. _"Not that I'm complaining, mind you."_

"It's either that or one of you has to stay here." This caused some hard glares that made even Riku flinch. "Okay, okay. Both of you hang on tight and keep your balance." The vehicle lurched to a rocky start, causing Kairi to stumble. Fortunately, Sora's hands immediately shot out to steady her.

"Careful, Kairi. I don't want to lose you again." Kairi looked up into Sora's mesmerizing eyes, suddenly becoming bashfully aware that it had been awhile since he held her this close.

_"Uh, Kairi?"_ Roxas sounded slightly amused. _"Your face is red."_ Indeed, her cheeks were almost the same shade as her hair.

"It's adrenaline, I swear!" Sora only responded with a warm smile.

Within a few minutes, the glider had achieved enough altitude to make Radiant Garden look like a roadmap. Xemnas' King Form didn't seem to have noticed them yet as it continued its rampage by absorbing the bits and pieces of the world.

"Okay, the plan is simple," Riku called over his shoulder. "Although it looks it, this is not Xemnas' true body. His real body should be somewhere located near the "crown" of this monstrosity. All we have to do is get close enough to jump on and sacrifice the glider as a distraction."

"I thought you said that this was our wedding present!" Kairi protested.

"I'll make it up to you guys later," Riku replied with a dismissive air. "Right now, the only advantage we have right now is surprise. If we get caught, he'll most likely send everything he has at us."

"Uh, guys?" Sora tried to get their attention, but they didn't hear him.

_"Exactly how many forms does this guy have?"_ Naminé asked. _"I mean, seriously! We defeated his Heartless, his Nobody, and you've told us that you and Sora had to fight his armored form on a Dragon Ship. What's next, some bald geezer that sounds like Spock? Some younger version that sounds like you?"_

_"We really should-"_ Roxas began.

"We can't exactly rule out those possibilities." Riku tightened his grip on the handlebars. "For all we know, there's a female Xehanort form we've yet to encounter."

"The yaoi fangirls would probably kill us if that happened," Kairi muttered.

"You guys!" Kairi and Riku whipped around at Sora.

"WHAT?!" Instead of responding, Sora pointed at their target. The others followed his gaze and were horrified to see Xemnas' giant visage staring directly at the tiny vehicle looking to infiltrate its defenses.

"Geez, first Kairi, now you," Riku groaned. "How is it that you two are noticing these enormous giants before I do?"

**"CUR-SED FOOLS!"** The enormous, commanding voice reverberated throughout the air, its sound waves making the glider rock a bit.

"Didn't you equip this thing with weapons?" Kairi yelled.

Riku's internal facepalm counter increased by one. "I...forgot."

_"Well, that's it."_ Roxas' voice could barely contain the sarcasm. _"If Riku, of all people, messed up, we're totally screwed."_

Sora and Kairi flinched as the millions of "windows" scattered across Xemnas' body began to pulsate with malicious energy. It didn't take Merlin to figure out what was coming next.

"Riku, floor it!" But the silver-haired teenager was already hitting the afterburners. As expected, lasers fired randomly at the group from all sides. The glider bobbed and weaved through the onslaught as Sora and Kairi attempted to keep their footing on the small platform. As good as Riku was, a stray beam finally managed to graze them, causing the vehicle to jolt. Although Sora had managed to keep his feet firmly planted, Kairi wasn't as lucky. The redhead's heart skipped a beat when she realized that her body was about to be caught in freefall.

"Kairi!" Sora instinctively made a grab for his fiancée, successfully managing to snag her leg. Unfortunately, this gave Sora an almost uninhibited upskirt shot.

"EEK!" Kairi clenched her thighs together and tried to hold her dress shut from her upside-down position. "Haven't you seen my panties enough?!" she shrieked. "No! Don't answer that!" Kairi added as Sora began to open his mouth.

_"Look out!"_ Roxas cried. Riku turned sharply, but the flurry of lasers were rapidly increasing in frequency. The sudden lurch caused Kairi to lose her grip on her Keyblade, sending it flying.

"No! The Keyblade!" Kairi could only watch helplessly as her flowery weapon shrank out of sight.

Another stray beam finally connected dead-center with their vehicle, engulfing the three in a burst of fire and melted metal. Sora managed to remain afloat using his Superglide, but Kairi and Riku were not as fortunate.

"Naminé!" Kairi cried. "I can Glide too, right?"

_"If by Glide, you mean plummet to the ground in a painful and agonizing death, then yes!"_ Naminé desperately searched for any more of Sora's memories that might've transferred over to Kairi.

There were none.

"Wait! What am I worried for?" A goofy grin played across Kairi's lips. "I've survived falling down a skyscraper with Xemnas!"

_"I think there's a huge difference between a skyscraper and the stratosphere, Kairi!"_

"Geez, where's anime physics when you need it?!" Kairi flipped herself around and was shocked to see Riku's limbs flailing lifelessly as she realized that he was unconscious. With debris flying past their bodies as they hurtled toward earth, the Princess of Heart suddenly became aware of Sora dive-bombing down to their altitude.

Her hope of another rescue faded as she noticed conflict written all over his face. It was clear that Sora was torn about who to save. He knew that he'd be able to carry one, but not both.

Seeing his hesitation, Kairi decided to give him some encouraging words to help make up his mind.

"Sora, you bum!" the redhead shouted. "Don't worry about me! Save Riku!" Sora looked at her with a painstricken glance.

_"Sora, we can't..."_ Roxas gazed longingly at Naminé through Sora's eyes.

Both Kairi and Naminé gave their fiancées an understanding smile. They mouthed the words, "I'll come back to you. I promise." With tears beginning to streak from his eyes, Sora gave one last gaze at Kairi before bolting for Riku.

As her fiancée passed her by, Kairi relaxed the muscles in her body and went limp.

_"So is that it? Giving up already?"_

"I can't think of anything. Can you?" In the back of her mind, Naminé was shaking her head.

_"I'm sorry, Kairi. I wish there was something we could do."_ The Princess of Heart's hair and dress whipped around wildly as her body tore through the sky.

"All of our friends disappeared with the Organization. We've lost the Keyblade."

_"And we sacrificed Sora and Roxas to save Riku,"_ Naminé finished. _"It's times like these I wish I had powers beyond just manipulating memories."_

"Despite everything we've been through these past few hours..." Kairi let out a quiet snort of amusement. "...I've never felt so naked and helpless in my entire life."

_"You still have me, Kairi."_ Naminé would've hugged her if she had her own body. _"You'll never be alone."_

"Thank you, Naminé." Kairi sighed. "Sora...I'm sorry." And with that silent apology, she closed her eyes in solemn acceptance...

...So it took the girl by surprise to feel warm, familiar arms embrace her body, stopping her freefall. Her eyes snapped open and found herself gazing into the handsome face of the boy she loved.

"It's okay, Kairi," Sora said gently. "I've got you."

"But what about-"

"Riku's fine. _They_ managed to catch him." Kairi turned her head, only for her jaw to drop. The girls couldn't believe their eyes.

"Is that a giant mecha?" Indeed, Riku was in the palm of a giant humanoid robot about the quarter size of Xemnas' King Form. The head was a pink and white helmet that had spikes adorning the top, sides, and back. The body seemed to be sporting a black, white, and pink jacket with black and pink gloves while the bottom half of the armor consisted of mainly black and gold, with gold and white shoes.

_"I thought those only existed in manga and anime!"_ Kairi and Naminé gave Roxas (through Sora) a pitying look.

_"As long as you don't make any Megazord, Voltron or Gundam jokes,"_ Naminé teased. _"I know I'm probably forgetting a few, so sue me."_

"Wow, the shape almost resembles Sora a couple years ago," Kairi observed.

_"Looks more like Xion's armor,"_ Naminé muttered. _"Don't ask,"_ she quickly added before the other three could ask her to clarify.

With the glider no longer a threat, Xemnas had shifted his attention back to absorbing the world. He didn't appear to notice the mecha's presence yet. The betrothed watched as Riku was gently deposited onto the shoulder where a familiar-looking deer was waiting.

Suddenly, a white gloved hand waved from behind one of the helmet's side spikes. With Kairi in tow, Sora glided past some lasers that finally activated their payload last-minute and landed on the giant mecha's shoulder. Entering through the opening embedded where the ear would be, Sora and Kairi found themselves on the bridge of a Gummi ship more sophistically advanced than either of them had ever seen.

They were surprised to find that the ones controlling their robotic savior were none other than the Princesses of Heart along with Queen Minnie, Lady Daisy, Chip, Dale, Pluto and Sora's remaining summons. Belle and Snow White helped the unconscious Riku off of Bambi and began to administer first aid. The other Princesses of Heart were each occupying separate control stations while the Queen and Lady were in the captain and first officer's seats. Noticing Sora and Kairi, Queen Minnie leapt from her chair and greeted them.

"Where's King Mickey?" she asked.

"And Donald and Goofy?" Lady Daisy added. The bushy-haired brunette and redhead glanced at each other, unsure of how to respond.

Finally, it was Kairi who said, "We don't know."

"What about the other wedding guests?" Sora inquired. "Are they here too?" An awkward silence hung heavy in the room, answering his question. The Keyblade Master ran a hand along one of the soft, elastic walls. "What is this? It's like we're inside a giant Gummi ship with arms and legs."

"It was King Mickey's idea," Queen Minnie explained. "Honestly, I don't know what he was thinking, but at least it was better than the time he met with that rabbit at Toontown."

"Roger, Oswald or Bugs?" Lady Daisy asked rhetorically.

"Who's piloting this thing anyway?" Kairi's question was responded with a familiar cackling from a certain blue fuzzball up front at flight control. "Figures."

"Your Majesty!" Chicken Little was typing furiously, staring intently at the screen from his perch at his Tactical station. "Xemnas finally noticed us and is charging up his lasers again!

Queen Minnie pointed out toward the front with a dramatic flourish. "Raise the X-Ion shields!" The mecha raised its arms, summoning two pink lances fashioned into Nobody symbols. It guarded by crossed its weapons together as thousands of building lasers began to pummel their ship.

"Structural integrity is down to 75%!" Alice shouted from the Security station. "The self-repair subroutines are underway!"

Jasmine was next to her keeping tabs on weapons. "The Ragnarok Torpedoes are armed and ready to fire!"

"I've located the weak point, Capt...I mean, your Majesty!" Aurora reported. "It's located near the crown!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" Queen Minnie ordered. "Get in close so we can cut open a path!"

_"When did this turn into Star Trek?"_ Roxas pondered.

_"What is it with you and Star Trek, Roxas?"_ Naminé couldn't hide her amusement. _"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a closet Trekkie."_

"Or an otaku," Sora added.

_"Says the Whovian believing in Haruhiism,"_ Roxas countered.

"Shush! I thought we talked about this!"

"Um, Sora?" Snow White had looked up from her first aid and was giving him a confused look. "Why are you talking to yourself?"

As Sora stammered out an explanation, Kairi gazed wistfully at the unconscious Riku. Naminé could sense the girl's guilt rising. _"Kairi, what's wrong?"_

_"This is all happening because of me."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"If it weren't for me, our friends wouldn't have disappeared in that explosion, the world wouldn't be ending, I wouldn't have lost my Keyblade, and Sora wouldn't have seen me completely naked before we got married!"_

_"Kairi, you know none of that is true," _Naminé argued._ "Except for that naked thing. There's no way in the Underworld that would've happened in canon."_

_"I'm not going to let everyone else keep taking risks for my sake! Xemnas wanted me to begin with..."_ Kairi's eyes locked onto Riku's Way to the Dawn. _"We beat him by ourselves before. We can do it again!"_

_"So your mind's made up?"_

_"Don't try and stop me, Naminé,"_ Kairi warned. Naminé was silent for a few seconds.

_"I...may not agree with your reasoning on this,"_ she responded slowly, _"but sitting here isn't going to accomplish anything. Alright, I've got your back, girlfriend."_

_"Thank you, Naminé."_ The girls were surprised that Sora and Roxas didn't hear their conversation, but the boys were completely oblivious as their attention was focused on the mecha swerving up and around toward their target. As they approached Xemnas' head, the giant mecha raised its lances and fired a burst of homing lasers from its shoulders, successfully penetrating the shielding around the crown.

"Direct hit!" Chicken Little reported. "We managed to create an opening, but it's already starting to close up!"

"I'll take him on!" Before anyone could stop her, Kairi snatched up Riku's Way to the Dawn and bolted out of the ship. A few seconds later, a moan escaped Riku's lips as he regained consciousness.

Sora's eyes shone with concern. "Riku! Are you okay?"

"My body feels like I got slammed into the ceiling by Lexaeus again," Riku groaned. "Where are we? Where's Kairi?" It didn't take long for Riku to get up to speed. "What is she thinking?! She's playing right into Xemnas' hands again!" He grimaced in pain as he tried to get up and failed. The Dawn Wielder grabbed Sora's collar and yanked him closer to his face.

_"Sure, Riku,"_ Roxas sighed. _"Give the yaoi fangirls more fanfic material."_

"Sora, go after her. I'm not really in any condition to help you right now, but I trust that you can keep her safe." The bushy-haired youth gave his friend a searching look.

"But what about you and saying that she'll be able to take care of herself?"

"It'll give me peace of mind." Riku released his grip as he plopped back down on the floor. "Besides..." He closed his eyes with a tired smile. "You owe me for that year-long nap when I told you to take care of her the first time."


	44. Fate Worse than Death

_"Huh? A beach?"_

_"Hello, Roxas."_

_"Naminé? What...wait. Dreamscape?"_

_"Yeah. Since Sora and Kairi are sleeping, we're pretty much free to interact with each other here."_

_"Due to the lack of a clock tower ledge, I'm assuming that this is your dreamscape we're in. Looks like the usual island without all the wood buildings."_

_"I created this place while I was held at Castle Oblivion. I sometimes come here while Kairi's sleeping when I need to think."_

_"Well, it certainly seems peaceful here."_

_"Nice pajamas, by the way."_

_"Oh, like you should talk! You practically live in your sleepwear everyday!"_

_"It's okay, Roxas. I forgive you for being jealous."_

_"Gee, thanks."_

_"Aw...you're so cute when you think I'm serious."_

_"So...what are your thoughts about this whole wedding business?"_

_"Well, Kairi's obviously stressing out, but she's putting up a brave front."_

_"Same with Sora. He's having some doubts whether he can really go through with this. Let alone, if he's really the right guy for her."_

_"How so? It's no secret that he's had feelings for her."_

_"I think it has to do more with a lack of self-confidence. He knows that there are many other guys out there that are probably more suited for her. Like Riku."_

_"That's stupid and you and I both know it. Sure, Riku is smarter, can bench-press 300 pounds, has cheese-grater abs, long flowing hair, a balance of light and darkness, can be paired with both guys and girls; not to mention being able to pass for a trap character..."_

_"Naminé."_

_"Um...anyway, what's important is that Kairi chose Sora. Although she might have a bit of affection toward Riku, her heart has always belonged to Sora both figuratively and literally."_

_"Huh. Thanks, Naminé. I'll make sure to tell him that when he wakes up."_

_"Besides, his name's already on the prenuptial agreement."_

_"Wait, what?"_

_"Aaaanyway, you do realize that if they get married, so will we?"_

_"Honestly? Would getting married really be all that bad?"_

_"Roxas, are you proposing to me?"_

_"What?! No! I was just...I mean, there's nothing wrong with..."_

_"Hee hee."_

_"Since we're talking about it, I don't suppose you're one of those people who believes in sex after marriage?"_

_"..."_

_"What? It just popped up in my head all of a sudden."_

_"Wow. Way to ruin the moment."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Good night, Roxas."_

_"...Was it something I said?"_

* * *

_"Kairi, are you crazy?!"_ The wind whipped through the Princess' red hair as she dive-bombed toward the rapidly closing opening in Xemnas' head.

"Don't worry, Naminé! This is skyscraper distance!" Kairi felt the tips of her boots narrowly escape the hole that sealed itself behind her, shutting out the light and plunging her into total darkness. Unable to tell how far she was from the floor, she quickly shouted _**"THUNDER!"**_ Bolts of lightning streaked through the air, temporarily illuminating the room she was plummeting into. Kairi twisted her body into a somersault, tucking her legs in before shooting her feet out, landing gracefully on the ground. "See, Naminé? Those skydiving lessons were all worth it."

At first, the girls couldn't see anything but pitch black. Then without warning, the ceiling opened up to the outside natural light, temporarily blinding them. The girls' vision gradually adjusted to their new surroundings. They were standing in the center of a circular area, surrounded by large pointed tips that jutted out like skyscrapers. The walls were strangely white pastel, while the entire floor was purplish darkness that constantly shifted underneath their feet.

_"It's like a mix of the World of Chaos, Castle Oblivion and the Dragon Ship,"_ Naminé observed. _"But yeah, it looks like we're standing in the middle of the giant crown."_ Kairi glanced up at the now visible sky and could barely make out their friends' giant mecha trying to search for another opening.

"Random thought. You remember Kari and Sora from Digimon?"

_"You mean the two girls from the first two seasons? What about them?"_

"I'm trying to figure out how people keep misspelling my name because of Kari."

_"So you'd rather be known for 'light' than 'sea?' Although, I find it fascinating that Sora can be a guy or a girl."_

"In an alternate reality, Sora could've been our yuri lover."

_"Yeah, right. And Riku would be our jealous rival."_

"With that hair? As long as he doesn't decide to cut his bangs, he'll always maintain the bishonen status." There was a slight rumble, making Kairi tense up as she fully expected Xemnas to expose himself in a dramatic fashion.

**"YOU HAVE ARRIVED."** She whipped around to see a fully armored Xemnas, sitting almost lazily in his throne. **"I KNEW YOU WOULD NOT DISAPPOINT."**

_"He was expecting us,"_ Naminé muttered.

"Well, he's got a lot to answer for." Kairi tightened her grip on the Keyblade.

Xemnas shifted in his seat. **"HOW CONVENIENT TO DROP INTO THE VERY CONTROL CENTER OF THIS ENTIRE VESSEL."**

_"Oh my gawd, this entire room is the cockpit to this behemoth!"_ Naminé realized.

"I can't believe how low you've stooped. You've kidnapped me as a child and sent me to Destiny Islands. Your Heartless ravaged and destroyed the worlds. Your Organization and Nobodies took away the two people that were most important to me. You've kidnapped me as bait. You've ruined my wedding. You've kidnapped me a third time. You've forced me to become your pawn..." Kairi's eyes flashed with anger. "You want me so badly? Here I am, Xemnas! You and me! Let's finish this!" With a flourish of vengeance, Kairi charged at the armored Organization leader.

**"I THINK NOT."** Before Kairi could manage to get within striking distance, a wall of metallic tentacles erupted out of the floor, barring her path.

"What the-" She backflipped out of range as the tendrils made attempts to grab her. On closer inspection, they appeared to be coated with some form of chemical.

_"Kairi, watch out!"_ Kairi looked down and saw a circle of light forming underneath her feet. A few seconds after sidestepping it, more tentacles burst out of the circle, flailing around for its prey before retracting back into the ground. _"It's just like Marluxia and Xehanort's Heartless! They're tracking our movements!"_

Not being able to hover along the ground, Kairi was forced to run and continuously Dodge Flip away. One stray tentacle managed to brush across her back. To the girls' surprise, Kairi's dress disintegrated where it had made contact.

"Ah! That thing burnt through my clothes!" While she was slowed down from the distraction, another one brushed across the outside of her bicep. Kairi felt a familiar tingling sensation where it had contacted her skin.

_"Oh no,"_ Naminé said suddenly.

"What? What is it?"

_"These tentacles...I know what they're for."_

"You don't mean..."

_"They dissolve clothing and make your skin more sensitive. And they're trying to restrain us."_ Kairi's jaw dropped as she put two and two together.

"Why the #$%& would Xemnas have a security system that performs tentacle rape on intruders?!"

_"I don't know. Maybe it's some sort of twisted karma payback for willingly stripping in front of Sora?"_

"Pfft. That's crazy, Naminé. You're crazy." Kairi raised her Keyblade._ **"WIND!"**_ The Aeroaga sphere she had only used once surrounded her body, making her feel slightly safer. Numerous tentacles shot toward Kairi, bouncing off the wind barrier, but she knew better than to let her guard down.

_**"FREEZE!"**_ Kairi shot a blast of ice over her shoulder, whirled around and aimed a kick at the frozen tentacles, shattering them to pieces.

_**"FIRE!"**_ To her surprise, the flames integrated with her wind barrier, creating a shield of fire. Unfortunately, she was no closer to annihilating the threat than she was at harming Xemnas. Kairi cast every spell that she knew, but the darkness was relentlessly respawning them like the Hydra.

_"Kairi? We can't keep using our magic like this! At this rate..."_ Kairi raised her Keyblade above her head.

_**"THUNDER!"**_ Just as Naminé feared, nothing happened. "Uh, Naminé?"

_"We're out of magic!"_ Naminé cried. To make matters worse, the combined Aeroaga/Firaga barrier dissipated into nothingness. Kairi shrieked as tentacles wrapped around her wrists and ankles, hoisting her helplessly into the air. She struggled against her captors, but there were too many for her to fight off. A couple of tickle pokes to her ribs and the Keyblade was easily disarmed. _"EEK!"_ Naminé squealed. _"Wait, wha-"_ She wasn't sure how, but despite being a mere consciousness, the tickling was affecting her as well. It was one thing to be tickled and restrained. For Naminé, being able to feel ticklish without a body was taking torment to a whole new level.

The soles of Kairi's boots became completely dissolved, allowing the tentacles easy access to one of the most ticklish spots on her body. The tips began lightly gliding across her arches, making Kairi burst out giggling.

"M-must re-heehee-sist..." She struggled to maintain as much self-control as possible, willing herself to climb up and over the metal appendages keeping her from her weapon, but this only resulted in her dress to become eaten away as her body rubbed against them.

She desperately stretched out an arm for the disarmed Keyblade. It was one thing to be frozen in bondage by Vexen. At least she had been still armed. But she was damned if she were to finally lose to her weakness here when she was finally face-to-face with the final boss. Kairi tried to block out Naminé's helpless laughter in her mind. Her fingertips were mere inches away, but this left her entire side and underarm completely exposed which the tentacles had no trouble in taking advantage of.

The tentacles wrapped around her wrist pulled her arm taut, forcing her to keep her limb extended as more began to poke and prod her increasingly ticklish ribcage.

"What?! NO!" Kairi squirmed and struggled against her bondage, desperately trying to pull her limbs in, but without the Keyblade, she was completely at their unyielding mercy. "STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHO-"The tentacles teased her by leaving their ticklee's body suspended just out of range of the Keyblade.

_"PLEEHEEHEEESE STAHAHAHAP!"_ Naminé might as well have been a ball of ticklish flesh, because there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop the torture. Everything Kairi's body felt, she felt in turn. She couldn't squirm away or lash out. It was as if she were chained to a wall, unable to move a finger or bat an eyelash. Even though Kairi was able to resist, Naminé had no such defenses as all of the ticklish sensations immediately reached her consciousness, effectively making her nothing more than a gigglebox.

As if feeding off of the girls' laughter, the metallic ticklers began to pulsate with a yellow hue. **"THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING ME WITH THE POWER TO TRANSFORM THIS VESSEL INTO ITS FINAL STAGE."**

The tentacles coiled themselves firmly around her limbs and stretched out her body spread-eagle, making sure that no spot on her vulnerable body was left unattended to. Kairi instinctively tried to curl her toes, but the tentacles seemed surprisingly knowledgeable on the best hotspots of a ticklee. They snaked in-between her toes and bent them back, lightly feathering the crease where each digit met the foot. It didn't take long for the chemical coating the tentacles to dissolve the remainder of Kairi's boots.

"NYAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAH!" The struggling redhead hadn't been aware that the base of her toes was a ticklish area. Whether she wanted to or not, Kairi was being given an absolutely torturous, yet thorough lesson of just how many ticklish areas there were on the human body.

They scribbled across her arches and brushed lightly up and down her calves. Kairi's legs instinctively jerked as the tentacles scribbled both in front and behind her knees. Her thighs attempted to clench themselves shut as the soft surface of inside her trunks were teased with gentle pokes. A few tentacles began to pulsate around her hips, simulating a squeezing motion that made Kairi scream.

"NOHOHOHOHOHO! NAHAHAHAHAT THAHAHAHAHA-" The tentacles that coiled around her arms began to gently flick their tips inside the soft hollows of her armpits. Her biceps spasmed as they tugged against her ties, but the tendrils held firm, forcing her exposed underarms to endure the relentless tickles. Her nerve endings were shocked with ticklish electricity as the wiggling feelers slithered through her cleavage, beginning the process of dissolving her dress open. They traveled down the length of her girlish figure and lazily traced circles across the surface of her stomach. A couple of them swirled inside her navel. Kairi's body danced to its own beat with the metal tormentors playing her like its own musical instrument.

As most of the fabric fluttered into the open air, metal tips began circling up and down her exposed sides like a conveyer belt of feather-light touches that endlessly tickled her sensitive body.

Other than her most private of areas, not a single tickle spot was left unchecked as a tentacle wrapped itself around her neck and under her chin, just loose enough to leave her sporadic breathing unhindered, but enough to keep her head from blocking access to the tickles. Even her ears weren't spared as they flicked in and out like tongues.

"WHAHAHAHAYE AHAHAHAM AYEHEEHEE-" What Kairi was really trying to say was "Why am I not fainting?" Indeed, she didn't seem to be tiring, running out of breath or feeling lightheaded. It didn't make sense that the continuous stimulation hadn't eventually become numb to her nerve endings. Yet, Kairi felt just as sensitive and just as keyed up as the full-body tickling never seemed to decrease in intensity.

**"YOU WILL NOT DIE OR FAINT. THESE POWER SIPHONERS SUPPLY YOUR BODY WITH THE NECESSARY COMPONENTS TO MAINTAIN ETERNAL CONSCIOUSNESS, ADRENALINE AND ENDORPHINS WHILE YOUR HEART POWERS THIS SHIP.**" If Kairi and Naminé weren't distracted, they would've sworn there was a smirk hidden underneath his armor.

Helplessly suspended in the air and completely restricted of any major movements, Kairi's will to fight was utterly shattered. Her only weapon was out of reach and with Naminé helplessly tickled to tears as she was, Kairi once again began to long for death. The extremely ticklish girl thought she had experienced the worst tickling ever when she had been tortured by Vexen. But at least Naminé was there to bail her out. Now stripped of her clothes, her dignity, her protection, and her friends, the Princess of Heart's entire world had been replaced with an eternity of laughter.

She begged and pleaded for the tickling to stop, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. No matter how much she laughed, it was never enough. Kairi had half-expected her face to hurt from the forced smile she possessed, but the endorphins were natural painkillers, leaving her in a comfortable, yet suffering state.

The tentacles had dissolved most of her outfit, leaving just mere patches to cover her naughty bits.

...Until tendrils had the audacity to start running their length between her open legs and across her chest.

"NYAHAHAHA! YOU PERVERT!" The sudden thrilling sensation made Kairi buck and took her laughter to a whole new level. Unwanted arousal and lust began to build upon the tickle torture she was forced to endure. Moans of pleasure began mixing in with her helpless giggles. The remaining censors of her female form were finally eaten away by the tentacles, leaving Kairi completely naked for the umpteenth time that day.

"HEHEHEHEHLP MEHEEHEEHEE SOHOHOHORAHAHAHAHA!" were the only comprehendible words that left the poor girl's lips before the combined pleasure and titillation finally overtook her sanity...

* * *

_"HELP ME, SORA!"_

Sora's head snapped up as Kairi's voice echoed through his mind. "Roxas, did you hear that?"

_"I did. We can't wait any longer! We have to..."_ Roxas' voice trailed off as Xemnas' body began to glow a sickening yellow. _"What the..."_ The mecha's crew watched in horror as Xemnas' King Form began to rise, its crown's points swelling in size and spreading open like a flower. Sharp, giant blades burst out of its shoulders while more buildings began to replicate around its lower half like a virus.

"What's going on?" Riku asked as he propped himself up. Before their very eyes, a horse's body had formed, effectively making Xemnas a centaur. Or as the Greeks used to call it, a "Kentauros."

"Xemnas' power levels skyrocketed exponentially!" Chicken Little reported. "I'd make an Over 9000 joke, but..."

"The crown's defenses have not only repaired themselves, but they've been reinforced with barriers of darkness." A worried expression was written all over Aurora's face. "I've lost visual on Kairi."

"What's the status of Radiant Garden?" But Queen Minnie didn't even need to ask. With Xemnas' Kentauros form complete, the absorption process took only a matter of seconds. "No..." Radiant Garden was no more, leaving the only survivors floating in space inside their giant mecha.

_"Okay, whose bright idea was it to invite Galactus to the wedding?"_ Roxas quipped.

And yet, Xemnas wasn't satisfied. The giant beast turned its attention towards the other worlds, most likely to assimilate them into its collective. And its next target...

Aurora quickly tapped a few keys at her console. "Based on Xemnas' trajectory and heading, he seems to be heading for-"

"Destiny Islands!" Riku exclaimed. "Other than Radiant Garden, our world seems to hold some significance to him."

"Don't know why." Sora ruffled his bushy hair. "Nothing really happens other than the occasional Godzilla attack."

_"That's Japan, Sora,"_ Roxas corrected him. _"We're the ones that get the meteor strikes."_

Sora tapped his foot impatiently. "Can't we go any faster?"

He glanced over at the chipmunks sitting on top of Pluto's head, but they only shrugged. "We could go Ludicrous Speed," Chip suggested, "but that'd just be insane."

"No, making Sora an expendable character would be insane," Riku said. "Right now we just need to catch up with Xemnas."

"And then what?" Dale asked. "As powerful as this ship is, I doubt we even have enough power to slow him down."

"What I don't understand is where he's getting all of that extra power from..." Chip added. Sora's head dropped as he placed a hand over his heart. He could feel Kairi's anguish and suffering pulsate through him. His fingers curled up into fists and his eyes narrowed into angry slits as he realized what was going on. Without a word, he began marching toward the exit. "Sora, where are you going?"

"Xemnas is getting that energy from Kairi!" Sora felt anger well up inside of him. "He obviously doesn't believe she's suffered enough."

"Sora, wait!" Lady Daisy tugged on Sora's half-jacket. "It was one thing to try to board while he was stationary. But even you can't glide fast enough to catch up to him!" But Sora already had a determined glint in his eye.

"Kairi's in trouble! Do you really expect me to just sit here and let her face him alone?"

"But how are you supposed to get past his barrier?"

With his fiancée's squeals of torment resonating through his skull, Sora helplessly grabbed his head and said the first thing he could think of. "I don't know! Couldn't we somehow hack into the security system and temporarily disable the barrier?" Everyone looked at Sora, who was trying very hard to concentrate on his psyche not snapping. "What? I was just asking."

Aurora wagged a finger in contemplating thought. "You might be onto something." And with that, the crew members began working furiously to make contact with Xemnas' security system.

After a couple minutes, Alice snapped her fingers in triumph. "We're in!"

"Put it on the main screen," Queen Minnie ordered. The group was taken aback by the display. "What the..." The front display consisted only of a simple phrase followed by a blinking cursor underneath.

"A password?" Snow White peered closer at the screen. "It looks to be an anagram of..._'It's Disneyland'_?"

_"What I would give to be there right now..."_ Roxas mumbled.

"Hmm..." Riku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Try Destiny Island."

"What the..." Sora couldn't hide his astonishment as the password was accepted. "How'd you figure that out?"

Riku gave him an incredulous glance. "Really? I just finished saying that he had an obsession with it. Pay attention next time." But Sora didn't laugh. He was uncharacteristically serious for once.

"The main barrier is down, but the barriers of darkness are still surrounding the crown!" Alice blew some stray hair out of her face. "They're not part of the main system, so I can't shut them down."

"You can leave that to me." Sora's fingers tightened around the Keyblade's grip. "Just see if you can get into a position that will make it easier to board."

"We're on it!" The miniscule mecha sped up until it overtook the behemoth. With their destination in front of the forehead achieved, the crew maintained their position and speed for easier access.

Sora gave Riku a searching look. "You sure you're not coming?"

"Kairi grabbed my Keyblade, remember? Summoning it back isn't going to do any good if it leaves her defenseless."

_"Why can't you just summon Kairi's Keyblade instead?"_ Roxas asked. _"You're the one that gave it to her, right?"_

"Using the powers of darkness," Riku reminded him. "I can't open Corridors of Darkness anymore, let alone summon a second Keyblade back. I'm not exactly a dual-wielder like you two."

"Before you go..." Queen Minnie handed Sora a Megalixir. "Goodness knows you'll both need it."

"Thank you, your Majesty." Sora gave one quick nod to Riku and headed out. Despite the neck-breaking speed the ship was achieving, Sora managed to steady himself out on the mecha's shoulders, taking care not to fall into the seemingly infinite space swirling around him. Xemnas' Kentauros Form felt more imposing to Sora and Roxas when seen in person. And yet...

_"Nervous, Sora?"_

Sora rolled his eyes. "Please. We've traveled through Gummi space so many times, something this big isn't that scary." Just as Alice reported, although the main energy barrier was deactivated, there were multiple layers of darkness still protecting the cockpit. "Any ideas how we get through those?"

_"Remember what Kairi did against that Twilight Thorn's attack?"_

"You mean while it was groping her?"

_"No, I meant after that. The whole drill thing."_

"You mean like I did against Sark when I leapt off that wall and drilled through his head?"

_"Yeah. Just like that."_

Sora took a flying leap off the mecha and shot off like a missile, a single point of light streaking through the void. Using natural momentum and with no air resistance to contend with, the Keyblade Master pierced Xemnas' defenses until his spinning ripped through the energy barrier. As Sora fell toward the cockpit below, the faint, anguished voices of Kairi and Naminé began growing louder in the boys' ears.

"Never thought we'd take the role of Riku," Sora muttered. Flashbacks of fighting Xemnas' Final Form alongside the Dawn wielder came to mind. Just like Riku had saved him from Xemnas' energy drain, it was Sora's turn to rescue Kairi. "Roxas?"

_"Right, Sora."_ Sora tucked his arms and legs in as a familiar crystallic sphere enveloped his body.

_**"GIVE US STRENGTH!"**_


	45. Whatever Lies Beyond this Morning

**"KAIRI!"**

With the darkness barriers disintegrating, light washed over the cockpit as a newly-transformed Limit Form Sora blazed through the air. To his utter shock and disbelief, below him was the sight of a completely hysterical, naked girl with metallic tentacles lustfully running themselves all over every inch of her sensitive body. Her musical giggles and gyrating hips almost had the teenager hypnotically captivated by hidden male impulses, but as soon as the thought came to mind, he immediately hardened his resolve to rescue her.

_"I won't let Kairi suffer!"_ Sora reminded himself. The Keyblade Master flipped around and landed lightly on the floor, a glint of focus in his eyes.

_"You know, I'm starting to feel sorry for Kairi,"_ Roxas said. _"Being stripped over and over can eventually traumatize her into exhibitionism."_

"Please, Kairi's much more stubborn than that."

_"Did you forget she was willing to take off her clothes a half hour ago?"_

"Pretty sure that was post-traumatic stress. Besides, I think she'd be _less_ inclined to be naked if she keeps associating it with negative reinforcement."

_"You mean all this might drive her to stop wearing skimpy dresses and wear full-body outfits?"_ Roxas groaned. _"Xemnas is going to pay for this."_

Sora quickly took a glimpse of his surroundings, noticing the floor of purplish darkness and the tendrils that grew from it. He also took in the sight of Armored Xemnas sitting on his throne through the wall of tentacles shielding him. The Superior barely moved as if daring Sora to rush in and attack recklessly. As a dull circle of light began to form under his feet, Sora was reminded of his fights with Xehanort's Heartless, Marluxia and Vexen. Because of this, he knew exactly what to do.

He ran.

Knowing full well not to get caught within reach, Sora made sure never to linger in one area as he circled around the helpless girl. Tentacles burst out of the floor and retracted every few feet behind him as he searched for any sign of a weak spot he could exploit.

"I don't think random hacking and slashing is going to help here. Any ideas, Roxas?"

_"Maybe we shouldn't have went into Limit Form. We can't cast any spells!"_

"Hmm...I guess if we're the 'Riku' in this situation, we should analyze the situation like he does."

_"Well, if we were Riku, I think I'd say something along the lines of not focusing on what we can't do..."_

"...and focus on what we can," Sora finished. "Even if we can't cast magic, that doesn't mean we don't have other attacks at our disposal." Sora held the Keyblade behind him. "Time to bring in the retro!" Light began to emanate from the weapon's tip.

_**"SONIC BLADE!"**_ Sora dashed forward and thrust the Keyblade through the massive entanglement. His weapon clanged with each pass as his attacks made contact with its target. It was apparently weakening their hold due to Kairi's flailing limbs being given more slack with each successful hit. As he geared up for one last pass, the ticklers shivered from the damage. But before they could turn their attention to encasing a new victim...

_**"ZANTETSUKEN!"**_ In the blink of an eye, Sora seemed to teleport straight through the tentacles and reappeared right behind Kairi. A split second later, the tendrils were sliced into obliteration, finally releasing Kairi from her bondage. Sora whirled around and safely caught his fiancée in his arms. As the tentacles began to reform, Sora held out his Keyblade in front of him and pointed it downward.

_**"RAGING STORM!"**_ Embers accumulated above his head before bursting into a trio of revolving pillars of intense flame that lifted his body off the ground. Kairi's giggles finally began to die down as her soft form trembled in his warm embrace. Her quivering limbs instinctively curled up close to Sora's chest and tears of relief flowed down her cheeks.

_"Naminé! Are you okay?"_ Roxas' voice snapped Naminé out of her delirious state and realized that she was no longer being tickled.

_"Wha...Roxas?"_ It was no surprise that Naminé's voice sounded shaky and weak. _"Sora? What are you two doing here?"_

"Do you really have to ask? We came because we were worried about you." Kairi blinked a few times to clear her vision as she realigned herself with reality once more. Sora softly brushed the remaining tear streaks off her face. "Do you think you can stand?" Kairi silently nodded and Sora gently set her down. The floor of darkness felt particularly cold under her bare feet despite the fire barrier heating the rest of her naked body up. Being the chivalrous gentleman he was, Sora removed his half-jacket and wrapped it around Kairi's body. "I'm surprised you're perfectly okay with being naked in front of me," Sora said with his eyes staring unwavering at her face.

"You've already seen me like this thousands of times today," Kairi explained as she pulled the body-heated half-jacket tighter around herself. Her nerve-endings were still tingling from the full-body assault she had endured. To her embarrassment, the tentacles that had been rubbing across her chest and between her legs had conjured up feelings that made her psyche bloom with naughty fantasies involving her and Sora that she wouldn't be ready to share for a long time. "Just don't get used to it. After today, the next time you'll ever see me naked is on our honeymoon."

_"You know, if you were any other guy, the sight of a tied up, naked, aroused and helplessly giggling girl would be an appealing view to behold,"_ Naminé said. _"They'd probably have just remained inactive and watched the show."_

Sora crossed his arms. "We're not perverts, Naminé," he replied. "We're just teenage boys."

"Not exactly helping your case," Kairi said. "Naminé?"

_"Right."_ Not wanting to remain in hentai status for much longer, Kairi shifted to Naminé's form long enough for her clothes to rematerialize then immediately switched back.

"Huh. With my jacket, you almost remind me of Aerith," Sora commented.

With her dignity haphazardly repaired, Kairi picked up the Way to the Dawn off the ground and sighed. "This sucks."

Sora looked at her curiously. "What does?"

"Look, Sora. I appreciate you coming to rescue me, but the truth is..." Kairi let out a slow exhale. "I didn't want you or anyone else to put themselves in any more danger because of this spat that Xemnas has towards me." Sora couldn't help but chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, but you're starting to sound an awful lot like Riku."

"But that's not all. You having to rescue me just reminded me how much of a gap there is between us when it comes to fighting. After taking on the Organization with no one but me, Naminé, and an irreplaceable Keyblade, I honestly thought that I had grown. But saving me just now from that..." Kairi's eyes were sent downcast. "It just makes me feel completely useless and nothing more than some damsel in distress that has to get rescued in the end."

Naminé felt sympathetic toward her other half. _"Kairi..."_

Apparently, so did Sora as he gently lifted Kairi's chin and gave her a warm, gentle smile.

"You're far from useless, Kairi. I already told you, you're just as capable at fighting as me or Riku. So you happened to get caught up in a trap. You don't think this hasn't happened to me before?"

"You mean you've been stripped, violated and humiliated too?"

"If you mean being turned into a Heartless, getting my memories rewritten or being made to beg on my knees, then yes." Kairi went quiet for a moment. Despite being rejuvenated physically thanks to her former bondage, she was mentally exhausted from everything that she had experienced over the past few hours. Every time she thought that she was about to finish the final boss, a new one always managed to up the difficulty.

"I don't know if I can keep doing this," she said. Sora took Kairi's hands in his.

"Kairi, we started this journey together. It's only fitting we finish it together." He flashed her a confident grin. "It's like I've always said..."

_"Our friends are our power,"_ Naminé quoted.

_"And we are theirs,"_ Roxas finished.

"Whatever lies beyond this, we'll go together." Kairi's lips quivered as she resisted the impulse to kiss him right then and there. A tinge of passion illuminated her cheeks as the romantic center in her brain was stimulated by his words.

_"You're not alone, Kairi."_ Kairi felt a surge of confidence from Naminé. _"We can and will finish this."_

Kairi took a deep breath and gave Sora an assertive nod. "Thank you. All of you." She readjusted her grip on the Keyblade. "Okay, first things first. How are we supposed to get rid of these tentacles? We obviously can't stop them at the source."

But Roxas thought differently. _"You're focusing on the wrong thing. It's not Xemnas we have to worry about, it's the darkness."_

Kairi snapped her fingers triumphantly. "Of course! Get rid of this floor of darkness and they can't respawn anymore!"

Sora shook his head. "Problem. Neither of us have any spells or abilities that can destroy it. We might as well be fighting our shadows."

"Ugh, I really don't want to have to go through that again..." Kairi stamped her foot in frustration. "If only I could summon my Keyblade! I could probably change into Final Form again!"

Sora gave her a funny look. "I've been meaning to ask this for awhile now, but why exactly can't you summon the Keyblade?"

"Because I'm not an official Keyblade Master like you or Riku! Which totally sucks by the way."

_"Um..."_ Roxas' tone sounded half-amused, half-puzzled. _"Not to sound rude or anything, but have you ever actually tried?"_

"Tried to what?"

"Tried to summon the Keyblade," Sora clarified. Kairi opened her mouth to answer, but stopped.

_"You know, now that he mentions it, I don't recall ever actually trying,"_ Naminé said. _"This entire time we've assumed we couldn't."_

Kairi held out her free hand and focused on summoning the Keyblade...

Nothing happened.

"You see? I don't think I was ever meant to be a full Keyblade wielder!" Kairi pouted.

"That's because you don't know how," Sora said gently. "It's not about focusing your mind. It's about opening your heart up to the light within the darkness." He gazed into her beautiful, blue eyes. "The heart may be weak, and sometimes, it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out. Don't try to force it. Just...let it happen."

Kairi nodded, took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

_"Uh, Sora?"_ Roxas' voice sounded worried. _"I hate to interrupt, but we're seriously running out of magic here."_

Kairi attempted to block out the fear of failure and cleared her mind. She began to feel a warm, soothing glow begin to wash over her heart.

_"That's it, Kairi!"_ Naminé sounded excited. _"I can definitely feel something happening!"_

**SHWINK!** A shaft of light burst in front of Kairi's outstretched hand and she instinctively closed her fingers around a familiar handle. Kairi's eyes snapped open and to her amazement, she was clutching her Keyblade.

"I don't believe it..." Her mouth hung open in astonishment as she examined her weapon with disbelieving eyes. "It actually worked..." Kairi then realized she was still clutching Riku's Way to the Dawn with her other hand. A satisfied smile creeped across her lips. "Looks like I'm a dual-wielder again." She swung both her Keyblades with a flourish. "And this time it's official!"

***FLASH!***

_"Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away."_

***FLASH!***

Kairi shook her head. "Wha...What was that?"

_"I...think we just learned a new spell,"_ Naminé said.

_"Just in time too!"_ As soon as Roxas said "too," the protective flames surrounding them finally vanished. With their barrier gone, the tentacles wasted no time in shooting towards their prey.

"Alright, you perverted strands of armpit hair! Take this!" Kairi crossed her Keyblades together. _**"HOLY!"**_ A giant pillar of white light burst from the ground, melting away the pool of darkness and leaving the white steel of the cockpit in its place. Beams of light rained down from the sky, incinerating the tendrils until nothing stood in the way between the Keyblade wielders and Xemnas.

_"Without his darkness to protect him, Xemnas is a sitting duck!"_ Naminé cheered. But Kairi wasn't letting her guard down.

"Don't worry, Kairi!" Sora assured her. "He never gets up from his throne anyway!"

**"OH, REALLY NOW?"** To the heroes' surprise, Xemnas stood up, tossing away his baggy sleeves and gazed down upon them. Without the tentacle wall in the way, the others finally got a better look at his armor. A single Nobody emblem was centered on the torso with thorns protruding from his greaves and wrapped around his boots. The crown and shoulder pad were gold, while the rest of the armor was colored in light shades of blue and silver. He had two silver belts on its waist and what seemed to be white feathers on his right shoulder in place of a spiked pauldron.

Heaving the giant sword upon his shoulders, the teenagers were almost frozen from the intimidating stare through his beak-like mask.

_"Nice going, Sora,"_ Roxas muttered.

"What? But Naminé also said-" But a single glare from the girls cut him off.

**"IT SEEMS I HAVE UNDERESTIMATED THE POWER OF YOUR HEARTS."** Xemnas' sword began to glow. **"NO MORE." **To the group's astonishment, the giant sword shrunk and twisted until it transformed into...

Kairi couldn't believe her eyes. "A Keyblade?!" Indeed, the Keyblade had a spiky, black guard resembling demonic wings, a horned, demonic head just above the handle, two barbed shafts, and teeth resembling a battle axe split into three almost claw-like protrusions. Its shaft and head were adorned with several twisting, silver patterns. It also contained two demonic, blue eyes; one on the Keychain and the other one on the head.

"Wait a minute." Sora held out his palm as if halting any further villainous speeches. "You've had this ability all this time, and you choose now to use it?" He shook his bushy-haired head. "You could've used it back on the Dragon Ship when it was only me and Riku! Or better yet, what was the whole point of the Organization or using me to collect hearts? You could've just transformed into this armor of yours and did the job yourself!"

Kairi's mouth hung open as she gave Sora an incredulous look. "You're worried about his strategy? I'd be more concerned that he can actually wield a Keyblade!"

_"Speaking of Keyblades, why haven't we changed into our Final Form?"_ Naminé asked. _"We're holding two Keyblades, so it should've worked, right?"_

_"Maybe it has to be specific Keyblades for it to work,"_ Roxas suggested. _"It probably only worked with Sora's because your bond is stronger with him than Riku's."_

"Right." Kairi held out Riku's Way to the Dawn toward Sora. "Trade you?" The Keyblade in Xemnas' hand seemed to meld into his forearm, freeing up both of his hands. Before the couple could react, Xemnas teleported from where he stood to directly in front of them. His clawed gauntlets shot out and palmed both their faces, gripping his fingers around Sora and Kairi's heads.

_"Oh, this is **SO** not cool!"_ Naminé complained. _"Weapons I can deal with, but using just his hands is uncalled for!"_

As his vice-like grip squeezed their heads like watermelons, Xemnas couldn't help but taunt them once more.

**"YOU SHALL GO TOGETHER."**


	46. Being a Princess Isn't Useless

"My head hasn't felt this bad since I took those Skittles shots as a dare!" Kairi groaned through gritted teeth. Her head was throbbing from Xemnas' clawed gauntlets squeezing her skull like a juicer from hell. Despite Sora and Kairi's Keyblades being free, they couldn't get enough leverage to free themselves from Xemnas' vice-like grip.

_"Aren't you underage?"_ Roxas asked.

_"That doesn't matter right now!"_ Naminé snapped. _"Kairi, I think I may have found a weak spot!"_ Peering through the miniscule gap that her opponent's merciless palm left her, Kairi's eyes zeroed in on the only unarmored part of the body within kicking distance.

"Way...ahead of you, Naminé!" Her lilac boot shot out at the exposed black pants, half-expecting Xemnas to have his crotch protected too.

She should have listened to her instinct.

A dull clang rang out as agonizing pain shot up through Kairi's toes. "OW! He's wearing armor! Of course he'd have it protected!"

Xemnas chuckled quietly as he hurled the stunned girl straight upward like a dart toward a helium balloon. Despite his bulky appearance, the Armored Superior was deceptively agile as he rocketed up past the airborne Princess of Heart, swung Sora around by his head, and spiked the poor boy's body straight into her, causing the couple to crash into the ground with a thundering impact. Before either of the betrothed could recover, Xemnas' arm bracer shifted down his body into a greave around his right shin as he targeted his metal boot at the fallen Kairi.

"KAIRI!" Catching the incoming attack out of the corner of his eye, Sora twisted his body around and shoved Kairi out of the way, leaving him to take the full brunt of the stomp. The sheer force crushing into Sora's stomach caused splatters of blood to rupture from his lips.

"SORA!" Xemnas' head snapped up as Kairi hoisted her body upright and raised Riku's Way to the Dawn toward him. _**"FREEZE!"**_

He raised his shin, transforming the Keyblade back to its original state before its blade retracted into the handle and doubled in size. A barrier of dark energy pulsed out of its center, effectively shielding Xemnas from the icy blast.

_"Okay, seriously?"_ Naminé groaned in disbelief. _"How many forms does that Keyblade have?"_

The Armored Superior lunged to grab Kairi, but she barely managed to backflip out of range. Without hesitating for an instant, Xemnas commanded his Keyblade to shift again, this time into demonic-looking wings that fused to his shoulder blades and he took to the air. An amorphous purple cloud of darkness began forming around him.

"What..." Before Kairi could react, phantom Keyblades shot out of the cloud and began homing in on her. Rising to his knees and clutching his stomach, Sora's arm shook with painful tremors as he raised his Keyblade and took aim.

_**"RAGNAROK!"**_ A sphere of light burst from the tip of his weapon before splintering off into multiple beams that snaked and homed in on Xemnas' attack. With the resulting explosions distracting Xemnas, Kairi took her chances.

_**"THUNDER!"**_ Bolts of lightning streaked through the sky and blasted Xemnas in full force. "Yes! Direct hit!" Unfortunately, Xemnas used his falling momentum to hurtle himself boot-first at Kairi again. Despite his weakened state, Sora threw back his Keyblade-wielding arm.

_**"STRIKE RAID!"**_ Sora's Keyblade smacked Xemnas enough to alter his trajectory. The Armored Superior sailed harmlessly over Kairi's head and slammed his heel into the ground, causing a small shockwave that made the cockpit's floor vibrate.

Xemnas ruthlessly rushed at Kairi with the aggressiveness of a football player. The redhead inverted her grip on her Keyblades so they ran down the length of her forearms. Xemnas' Keyblade crashed down onto Kairi's, locking themselves into a test of strength. Her knees buckled as she strained against her opponent's brute force.

"I don't suppose a panty shot will work this time?" Kairi grunted.

_"He's already seen you naked,"_ Naminé reminded her. _"I don't think you can flash any more than that."_ Knowing full well that her petite frame couldn't withstand the full weight being pressed on top of her, Kairi decided to give herself some breathing room.

_**"FIRAGA!"**_ Flames encircled Kairi, causing Xemnas to recoil from the attack. As soon as the fireballs had passed, Xemnas quickly came back in with an overhead swing, forcing the Princess of Heart to Dodge Flip out of range.

Meanwhile, Sora shook his bushy head to clear out the dull, throbbing pain that was subsiding.

_"Sora! You okay?"_ Roxas asked. Sora wiped the blood trail from his mouth with the back of his arm.

"I'm fine, Roxas." Gaining his second wind, he leapt at Xemnas from behind and took a batter's swing at his opponent's shoulder. As the Keyblade connected with a satisfying smash, Kairi pirouetted around and windmilled her arms, slashing into Xemnas' other shoulder.

Enraged, Xemnas quickstepped behind the two, pulled back his free hand and fired off a Dark Firaga burst. Sora shifted his balance and raised his Keyblade to Guard while Kairi twirled around and shouted, _**"WIND!"**_ The fireballs of darkness fizzled on contact with Kairi's wind barrier.

Unfortunately, the Dark Firaga achieved its purpose of distracting Kairi long enough for Xemnas to blitz in and body check her with his pointed shoulder. Kairi involuntarily coughed as she felt the steel prongs dig deep into her stomach. Naminé couldn't help but be thankful that Kairi's stomach hadn't been penetrated.

As the Princess of Heart flew back, Sora rushed forward at Xemnas, who stood calmly waiting for the incoming attack. No sooner had Sora swiped his weapon, Xemnas had already slipped around behind him with a quick reversal. Sora was caught off guard and felt Xemnas' Keyblade crunch into his spine. The Keyblade master rotated his torso around and met Xemnas' weapon with his own. As the two continued to trade blows, Sora was stunned how fast and precise his strikes were.

"Is it just me or does this remind you of that other armored guy we fought back at Disney Castle?" Sora muttered as he did his own quickstep behind Xemnas.

_"The 'Lingering Will?' Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."_ Sora's Keyblade flashed as he took another swing, but Xemnas had already turned around to guard.

"Where do you think they get that armor anyway? Is there a 'Ye Olde Blacksmith' shop we don't know about?"

_"Nah, these things look like they were forged at least eleven years ago."_

A few feet away, Kairi took some deep, staggered breaths to get oxygen flowing back into her lungs. Gritting her teeth with a mixture of pain and frustration, Kairi jumped back into the fray swinging. Despite the two-on-one advantage, Xemnas was somehow able to keep up by parrying back and forth between his opponents. It was as if he were anticipating every attack they were to make, fluidly countering strike after strike.

_"This is unbelievable!"_ Roxas cried. _"There's no way Xemnas is this good!"_

_"He couldn't have been holding all this power and skill back, could he?"_ Naminé asked hypothetically. _"I swear, this better not turn out to be some mental illusion and we're actually fighting each other..."_

Xemnas did a quick slide step back out of their range, his opponents' Keyblades whiffing air. He merged his Keyblade into a greave again and cyclone kicked both Sora and Kairi across their faces, knocking them back. Kairi managed to land on her feet, but Sora wasn't as lucky as his head cracked against unforgiving steel floor.

The Princess of Heart rubbed the side of her face with her shoulder.

"I've felt worse," she reasoned. Xemnas once again shifted to an arm bracer as he blitzed Kairi. She attempted to Dodge Flip away, but Xemnas managed to catch her in mid-flip with an upward slash by his Keyblade, sending her careening into the air. A mist of darkness congregated around her, dispelling her Aeroga barrier. The air around Kairi became so thick that her body was completely immobilized. Numerous phantom Keyblades appeared out of the darkness, all pointed straight at her.

Unable to move or defend herself, Kairi braced herself for the upcoming pain. Sora was still disoriented from the blow to assist her and could only watch helplessly as his fiancée was pierced simultaneously from all angles. Kairi could feel her clothes once again ripped to shreds before she felt her body released from paralysis and drop toward the ground.

Sora shook the cobwebs out from his head and staggered slightly as he rushed forward to catch Kairi. He made a miraculous dive, squeezing her close to his body as they tumbled to a halt. As she felt Sora's welcome arms soften her fall, Kairi was afraid to look at how much of her outfit had been removed.

"How bad is it this time?" she asked Sora.

The Keyblade master loosened his hold on her and gave a quick scan of her stripped female form. "At least your panties aren't showing."

_"You know, I'm glad that it's Sora on our side,"_ Kairi murmured internally to Naminé.

_"Who else would it be?"_

_"I don't know. Maybe some random OC that we've never heard of in the context of this universe."_

_"Yeah, and going to high school as twin sisters,"_ Naminé added.

_"Last I checked, Sora got impregnated with my heart, so I'd be more of your father than sister,"_ Kairi reasoned.

_"I don't know. You'd be surprised how many pictures of Sora in labor are out on the internet..."_

As they got to their feet, the couple glanced up and saw Xemnas had begun twirling around with his wings expanded to their full length.

Kairi couldn't help but feel worried. "What is he doing?"

_"It's like he's drawing in the darkness around us and absorbing it!"_ Roxas guessed.

Indeed, the air around them began to feel dry and stuffy, as if all the oxygen was being replaced with stifling sawdust. It was Sora who realized what was happening first. Without any hesitation, he whirled around, yanked Kairi's arm and hurled her clear across the arena. Her body rolled around painfully before finally skidding to a halt.

Kairi weakly lifted her head just in time to see Sora flash her a quick grin before...

***KRACKABOOM***

Kairi and Naminé's heart stopped as an ear-shattering explosion engulfed Sora. Even though they were safely out of range, the girls could sense the overwhelming waves of excruciating pain that Sora and Roxas were experiencing.

"NO!" Kairi cried. As the smoke cleared, she could make out the Keyblade master's ravaged body lying sprawled out uselessly on the ground. The redhead let out an exhale of relief to find Sora was still breathing, albeit shallow. To her surprise, the explosion had managed to burn away most of his clothes, leaving a few well-placed tatters around his crotch area.

"Wow. Sora's actually been working out," Kairi groaned weakly from the ground.

_"I can almost hear hundreds of fangirls squealing from the implied nudity right now,"_ Naminé replied.

Xemnas casually kicked Sora's Keyblade out of his hand and pointed his own reformed weapon at Sora's throat. Kairi propped herself up with her Keyblades and with a roar of anguish, she charged at Xemnas, her Keyblades glowing as she channeled her heart's power into them.

_**"HEARTBREAK STARBURST!"**_ Swinging both weapons out in a wide arc, a tidal wave of heart-shaped bubbles flew toward Xemnas, exploding on contact in a dazzling display of light. As Xemnas shielded his eyes from the blinding distraction, Kairi flung her flowery Keyblade at him and dived for Sora's fallen weapon.

The projectile snapped Xemnas' neck back, giving the Princess of Heart the seconds she needed to wrap her fingers around Sora's Keyblade. The instant her fingertips made contact, a cool, tingly rush of power surged throughout her body as her outfit tinkled from pink to translucent silver. Wings of light burst out from her shoulder blades. As Sora's Keyblade transformed into Naminé's, Riku's Way to the Dawn made its own surprising transformation. His blade shimmered from the purple, red and blue falchion into a straight, thin, navy blue Keyblade.

"Well, that's new," Kairi commented. As Sora and Riku's Keyblades hovered on each side of her, she extended her arm and summoned back her own Keyblade, bringing her weapon count to three.

_"Wait a minute. We didn't transform into Final Form when we had our Keyblade and Riku's. But as soon as we toss ours away and grab Sora's, it works? How's that make any sense?!"_

"It's magic. Are you really questioning it?"

Xemnas growled as he regained his bearings. To the girls' surprise, the Armored Superior hesitated for a few moments when he saw the new, blue Keyblade in her hand.

**"YOU...YOU DARE?!"** Xemnas fused his Keyblade back into an arm bracer and made a lunging stab at Kairi.

The Princess of Heart grabbed the new Keyblade out of its levitated state and held it up horizontally to guard. To her surprise, her body was encapsulated within a sphere of light similar to Sora's Reflega, absorbing Xemnas' attack. The sphere exploded into shards, giving Kairi the opportunity to counter. She swapped her Keyblade for Naminé's and shoved Xemnas' extended arm out of the way, allowing her to duck underneath and take a stab at his exposed middle. Xemnas managed to cover up with his free hand, causing the Keyblade to clank against his forearm, but reading its owner's thoughts, Kairi's flowery Keyblade flew up and over his occupied limbs, smacking Xemnas upside the head.

As the Armored Superior staggered back from the blow, his Keyblade reformed into wings and flew him upward to give him time to recover. However, unlike last time, Kairi was no longer grounded. Kairi's Final Form flapped its wings as she rocketed up to continue her onslaught.

_"Wonder what got him so mad?"_ Naminé wondered.

"Bet he's missing using those laser blades of his right about now."

Xemnas threw his arms out, sending out phantom Keyblades like heat-seeking missiles.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot he could do that." Kairi backed up and mimicked her opponent's motion. _**"HEAVEN'S WING!"**_

Feathers of light shot out of her wings and intercepted the Keyblades in midair, resulting in miniature explosions. Under cover of the smoke, Kairi burst through the screen and let out a warrior's cry as she blitzed at Xemnas. Determined to stop the Princess in her tracks, Xemnas cocked back his arm and fired off a Dark Firaga barrage. Kairi took hold of the navy, blue Keyblade and pointed it toward him.

_**"PRISM RAIN!"**_ Rainbow colored lights burst out of the weapon's tip and eradicated the Dark Firaga on contact. Xemnas seemed to be at a loss for words and hesitant on what to do next.

_"Kairi! Now's our chance!"_ Just like she did with Twilight Thorn, she began rotating her body and raised her Keyblade over her head. As she spun faster, the other two Keyblades joined Kairi's outstretched one as she spun into a needle dive towards Xemnas.

"Taste the rainbow, mofo!" Her multi-colored drill speared straight through the armor's core, causing Xemnas to grunt out in pain and his wings to return to Keyblade form. The Armored Superior plummeted to the ground, landing on his knees and clutching at the spot that she managed to hit. With deep satisfaction, Kairi smiled inwardly as Xemnas pulled back a clawed hand to reveal a newly-developed crack in his armor.

Kairi dive-bombed at Xemnas, channeling all her heart's energy into her Keyblades.

**"NEVER A-"** Just as she ended up in range, Xemnas quickly sidestepped her charge and grabbed her by the leg. "...gain?" Kairi felt sudden whiplash as she was yanked out of the air. Before her other Keyblades could react to defend their owner, Xemnas tightened his grip on Kairi's leg and began spinning into a giant swing. Her body flopped around like a rag doll as he rotated his shoulder, leapt up and seismic-slammed Kairi into the ground, shattering her crystallic wings and destroying Kairi's Final Form.

No longer being supported by magic, Riku and Sora's Keyblades returned to their original states and clattered uselessly to the floor. Kairi's fingers twitched as she struggled to make her body move, but her nerves were too numb with pain to function properly.

_"I'm starting to think that Final Form isn't all that it's cracked up to be,"_ Naminé stated.

Kairi moaned as Xemnas calmly positioned himself over her helpless body. He carefully set his Keyblade so the tip gently rested over Kairi's left breast.

**"CAN YOU SPARE...A HEART?"**

* * *

"There's got to be something we can do!" With the Kentauros' roof open, the remaining heroes had regained visuals and could only watch helplessly as the fight between Sora, Kairi and Xemnas unfolded before their very eyes.

"Riku?" Queen Minnie noticed the Dawn Wielder was heading toward the exit with a determined glint in his blue-green eyes. "Where are you going?"

Riku's silver hair shimmered as he looked impatiently back over his shoulder. "I think I've rested enough. Those two need help. I'll-"

"Hold it!" Chicken Little yelled. "Your Majesty! We've got hostiles!"

Queen Minnie's hands flew up to her mouth in shock. "What?!"

"Multiple giant Heartless just appeared out of nowhere and are targeting us! Smaller ones have also materialized on the ship itself and are attempting to break their way in!"

"How did they manage to follow us all the way out here?" Lady Daisy asked.

"Maybe it has to do with the fact that there are six hearts of pure light all in one place?" Riku suggested with a barely noticeable tinge of sarcasm in his voice. "It attracted them to us like sharks to blood."

"Our reinforced hulls are taking a beating!" Alice cried. "The ship can't repair itself fast enough to compensate for the damage!"

Riku shook his head. "I'll hold them off."

"But Kairi still has your Keyblade," Snow White reminded him. This made the former "Ansem" vessel hesitate. He could easily summon his Way to the Dawn back, but...

_"No matter how small the chance, I believe they can still make use of my strength,_" Riku reasoned. But he still couldn't help feel doubt cloud his heart.

Stitch suddenly leapt out of the pilot seat and skittered toward Riku. He belted out some alien gibberish, motioning toward his seat with one pair of arms and pointing toward the exit with the other. The Dawn Wielder looked around helplessly for a translator.

"I think he's saying you should take the wheel and he'll deal with it," Bambi said. Stitch nodded excitedly, whipped out two blasters, and dashed out the corridor, leaving behind the echoes of _"Cowabunga!"_ ringing throughout the ship.

Cinderella placed a warm hand on Riku's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. "Someone once told me that strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trails. Although we might not be able to do anything to physically help Sora and Kairi, we can't underestimate the strength of their hearts."

"Kairi's a Princess of Heart and Sora's heart is powered by the bonds he has with his friends," Snow White added. "I'm sure you'd agree that the deep connection they have with each other will be more than enough to win."

"Of course," Belle chimed in, "it wouldn't hurt to have a little more faith in them."

The corners of Riku's mouth slightly twitched upward. The Princesses' words lightened the burden a bit, but didn't completely vanquish it.

Onscreen, the outside of the mecha seemed to be swarmed with ants with only a fuzzy blue dot futilely fighting back. The Gummi Ship was also doing its best to take down any giant Heartless that happened to attack with its blades. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, Experiment 626 was eventually knocked off the ship, hurtling into oblivion.

"The hull's been breached!" Jasmine reported. "All external weapons are offline!" The ship's arms dropped uselessly to its sides, allowing the giant Heartless to attack undeterred.

"Rerouting power to internal security!" Aurora said.

Alice slammed her palms down onto the security console, eliciting a few sparks. "They're making their way to the bridge via the ventilation system!"

"ETA?" Lady Daisy asked.

"Five minutes max. The internal security systems are slowing them down but they're not able to fully hold them back."

Riku clenched his fists in frustration. The helpless feeling of not being able to assist his friends was not an emotion he enjoyed. "I don't suppose anyone here has any weapons?"

Jasmine smiled. "Hey, we may be princesses, but we're not useless." She pressed a few keys on her console. A trap door slid open in front of the captain's chair and up rose a circular rack stocked with swords, pieces of armor, whips and a few projectile weapons. The Princess of Agrabah calmly walked up to the display and unsheathed a scabbard.

"Wait a minute." Cinderella looked at the rack curiously. "I thought only Keyblades were the only weapons that could defeat Heartless."

The Dawn Wielder couldn't help but cough. "Tell that to virtually every other wedding guest that fought alongside Sora. I heard someone once took down Heartless with just a stick." At the word 'stick,' Pluto's ears perked up and started wagging his tail happily with his tongue rolling out.

"A stick?" Cinderella didn't know whether to take Riku seriously or not. "You're joking."

_"And yet Sora couldn't even take one down with a wooden sword,"_ Riku thought to himself. Belle grabbed one of the whips and gave it a few tugs to test its flexibility.

"Gear up, girls. We can't let Kairi be the only Princess of Heart who can fight."


	47. Dearly Beloved

_"Am I...dead?"_ Sora tried to get a feel of where he was, but all he could see was complete and utter darkness. _"Because if I'm dead, why does my body ache all over?"_

_"Hey, Sora?"_

_"Roxas? You're in the afterlife too?"_

_"No, you foofie. Try opening your eyes."_ Sora's eyes snapped open to Gummi space and a familiar-looking cockpit. As his vision refocused, he was greeted to the horrific sight of Armored Xemnas raising his arm back, preparing to impale cold, heartless metal into Kairi's chest.

Time seemed to halt to a standstill as Sora quickly rolled over and gripped the floor with his hands and feet. Ignoring every nerve ending that told him his body was completely broken, Sora pushed off from his position, flinging himself toward the two combatants. Instinctively restoring his clothes by reverting back from Limit Form, his entire body ran on adrenaline with only the thought _"I can't lose her again..."_ running through his head.

Roxas didn't even have to say anything as Sora was reacting the same way he would've done for Naminé. Without any regard for his own personal well-being, Sora dove in front of Kairi's battered body.

"KAI-"

***SQUNCH***

Kairi's heart stopped as Xemnas' Keyblade pierced straight through Sora's back and burst out of his stomach. The mortally shocked expression on Sora's face at the realization of many ruptured vital organs in his torso would haunt Kairi's nightmares for a long time. Blood splattered over her dress as the weapon withdrew from the Keyblade master's back, causing his body to flop lifelessly onto the Princess of Heart.

"No..." Kairi carefully rolled Sora off of her and attempted to push herself up with her trembling forearms. "Sora, you're going to be fine, right?"

Sora tried to play off his rapidly dropping HP by giving her a weak smile. "I've...felt worse..." The color draining from his face said otherwise.

_"Remember when...erg...Keyblades could only be used to unlock hearts?"_ Roxas coughed in pain. _"I miss those days..."_

"Sora! Don't die on me!" Kairi cried. Looking into the eyes of her knight, her biceps quivered as she struggled to stay upright and pressed her hands around his. Sora's smile began to grow fainter.

"It's okay, Kairi," Sora whispered. "All that matters is that you're safe." His eyelids began to flutter closed.

Naminé desperately tried to think of something they could do. _"Roxas! Can't you just switch out with Sora?"_

_"I'm...trying..."_ Roxas' voice staggered as he felt his own essence fading as well. _"I think...that blast did...something to us..."_

Sora's breathing became hard and shallow as he clung to life. "Kairi...I..." His voice trailed off to a barely audible murmur.

"Sora, please..." Tears streamed down Kairi's reddened cheeks. "Don't leave me alone..." She could feel his hand give one last gentle squeeze before finally falling limply out of her grip.

_"No...Roxas..."_ Naminé sobbed.

Overwhelmed by the loss of their loved ones, Kairi lost what little composure she had left and threw her head back, screaming out in anguish. Her pained and sorrowful cry echoed throughout the cockpit and carried out into open space.

Naminé was at a loss for words. Usually she would say something to keep their spirits up, to not give in to hopelessness and keep moving forward. But with the loss of Sora came the loss of Roxas. Both of them had made her feel loved and confident in her existence. Anything that the memory witch could think of saying to comfort and support her other half would only come off hypocritical.

Kairi buried her face into the non-bloody part of Sora's chest, a few inches above the stab wound. Her hands gripped at his shirt, clenched at the incomprehensibility of the situation. She didn't care that she was in the middle of a fight or about the loss of any dignity. All Kairi cared about was that her true love had sacrificed himself for her. He died believing that Kairi would still be able to survive this.

**"HOW UNFORTUNATE,"** Xemnas taunted. Kairi's sobbing slowed as she lifted her head up. Despite the fact that Xemnas could've killed her in her mourning, he had only retained his fighting stance, calmly waiting to see if the Princess of Heart would still continue to fight. He pointed his Keyblade skyward. Kairi looked up and was astonished to find the Gummi ship that her friends were driving had been overrun by Heartless. **"YOUR FRIENDS HAVE BEEN VANQUISHED. YOUR BODY IS BROKEN. YOUR HEART'S TRUE DESIRE LIES DEAD AT MY FEET. YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT."** Xemnas' armor creaked slightly as he repositioned his feet. **"DO YOU TRULY WISH TO KEEP FIGHTING?"**

Kairi aimed a deadly glare through her tears, irritated by his smugness. Xemnas had proven he had the power to kill the girls right now, yet he was still toying with them. "You may be right. I've tried everything to defeat you. Sora and I combined couldn't do it. My Final Form couldn't do it." She looked down at her hands. They were stained with Sora's blood from clutching at his shirt. "And yet..." The tears had finally stopped as her hopeless depression was replaced with righteous determination. Grunting in pain, she began to stagger to her feet. "If we give up right now, you'll destroy our worlds. If Naminé and I don't fight, then Sora and Roxas gave their lives for nothing." Kairi summoned her Keyblade back to her hand, clutching it close to her chest. _**"HEAL!"**_ Although her body still ached, she was able to stand again.

"Naminé..." The redhead fixed her unwavering gaze at her opponent. "...Switch."

_"Gladly."_ Kairi awaited the changes she had experienced multiple times before...

But nothing happened.

"Naminé?"

_"I...I'm trying, but it's like that fight with Zexion. The only difference is that this time you can hear me."_

"Maybe when our Final Form broke, it disrupted our ability to switch?"

_"Think we should chance transforming to reverse it?"_ Naminé asked.

Kairi shook her head slowly. "We were lucky last time. He's not going to let us get another chance."

_"I'm out of ideas. All we can really do now is to stall long enough for our magic to recharge."_

"It may be futile..." Tightening her grip on her Keyblade, Kairi let out a slow exhale to steady her breathing. "...but it's not like we have anything left to lose."

* * *

"I'm really missing my Keyblade right now," Riku muttered as he slashed through a Neoshadow. The Heartless had finally managed to make their way to the bridge and most of the crew members were now locked in a desperate attempt to keep them from destroying the equipment. Snow White had replaced Chicken Little at his station since he was more capable of fighting than she was.

The small poultry straddled Bambi as they galloped around mule-kicking Shadows that were erupting from the consoles.

"No one messes with 'Ace' and his mighty steed!" the vertically-challenged fowl crowed.

"With fighting experience like this, I'll be the Great Prince of the Forest before you know it!" Bambi stated proudly.

Since the other Princesses were busy, Aurora was attempting to multitask between different systems at her console to keep the ship running. "Where are Chip and Dale? I don't think I can keep tabs on these by myself!" Queen Minnie threw out some balls of light at a few Soldier Heartless that were closing in on the former Sleeping Beauty.

"They went with Pluto to try to get the external defenses functional again!"

Lady Daisy had taken residence in the pilot's seat, clutching the steering wheel to keep the Gummi Ship steady. She glanced over her shoulder at Alice who had managed to take out a trio of Invisibles with a swipe of her new blade.

"Why did you choose a butcher knife of all weapons?" Donald's girlfriend inquired. "Let me guess, American McGee?"

"I'm not anything like that auburn-haired psychotic!" Alice snapped. Then she giggled. "The day I can turn into butterflies will be the day Jack Sparrow becomes the Mad Hatter."

Cinderella suddenly made a shushing noise. "Do you hear that? It sounds like..." The unmistakable sound of Kairi's scream of anguish bombarded the ears of everyone onboard, filling everyone's heart with an uncomfortable feeling of heaviness. It didn't take Yen Sid to realize what had happened.

"Sora..." Riku's fists shook with barely contained anger. "Out of my way!" He began moving towards the exit corridor, but a couple of Fat Bandits appeared in front of him, barring his path. He swung his blade with ferocious tenacity, but his weapon bounced off their enormous girth.

"Riku, jump!" Not questioning the sudden outburst, his body rode into automatic as he leapt up. A split-second later, Belle's rose whip swished underneath his airborne form and knocked the two heavy Heartless off their feet. Riku felt Jasmine rush past him as she flipped through the air and slipped through the small opening that was created between the Fat Bandits and the doorway.

The Heartless dissipated into darkness as the Princess of Agrabah sliced her scabbard cleanly through their nonexistential mass.

Jasmine winked at Riku as she adjusted her grip. "A little something I learned from Aladdin."

"Incoming!" Snow White shouted. From the viewing screen, Xemnas' Kentauros reached out an enormous hand and snagged the Gummi ship in its clutches.

Riku gave the Princesses another look. "You sure you'll all be okay?"

"The only way to finish this is if Xemnas is defeated, right?" Jasmine and Riku flinched as the creaking of metal reverberated throughout the ship from the Kentauros' slowly tightening grip.

"Once Chip and Dale get the defenses running again, we should be fine," Aurora stated.

Seeing Riku's hesitation, Belle gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. "Don't worry about jumping from the ship. We'll provide a path." The six Princesses of Heart looked at each other and shared a mutual nod. Each of them gripped at their chest before flinging their arms out, harnessing the powers of their light to create a rainbow tunnel outside connecting the two ships. "We'll hold it as long as we can."

"Everyone..." Riku's gaze swept over the crew with an appreciative smile playing among his lips. "...thank you." And with that, the Dawn Wielder headed for the outside.

"Good luck, Riku," Queen Minnie said.

* * *

_Sora's sky-blue eyes slowly opened to the warm sunlight basking his face. He sat up with a yawn, seeing nothing but the peaceful shoreline of the beach. What was he just dreaming about? Something about a wedding? It seemed so bizarre..._

_He lay back down, stifling another yawn only to find himself looking into the face of his redheaded crush. Sora let out a yelp of surprise and quickly sat up. He felt slightly embarrassed that Kairi had caught him napping._

_"Gimme a break, Kairi!"_

_"Sora, you lazy bum," she giggled. "I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here!"_

_"No! There was this..." Sora stopped himself. His tongue felt weird in his mouth all of a sudden. Kairi playfully smacked him on the head._

_"Are you still dreaming?" She smiled at him with a tinge of amusement, but Sora's mind was racing._

_"Say, Kairi..." There was definitely something wrong, but for the life of him, he couldn't quite remember what it was. "Is that a new outfit?" He casually looked up and down her body. "What happened to your pink dress?"_

_Kairi's smile was replaced with a look of concern. "What are you talking about, Sora? I've never owned a pink dress."_

_"Yeah, you did," Sora insisted. "It had these zippers and your hair used to be longer...'_

_Kairi frowned. "Are you feeling okay, Sora?"_

_"Hey!" Sora's bushy head whipped around and noticed his silver-haired friend holding a plank under the crook of his right arm. "Aren't you guys forgetting about me?"_

_Sora quickly leapt to his feet. "Riku! You're..." His voice trailed off. That nagging feeling he was forgetting something became even stronger._

_"...Doing all the work for you two?" Riku finished. He casually tossed the plank toward Sora. Instead of being knocked down by it, Sora took a quick step back, allowing the wood to land in the sand with a small poof._

_"Riku? Wasn't your hair much longer?" Riku looked slightly taken back by the question._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_Kairi nudged him. "That's exactly what I said." There was an evil twinkle in her eye as a wicked idea came to mind. "I think Sora's still half-asleep."_

_Riku understood immediately. "Maybe he just needs a little..." He started flexing his fingers menacingly. "...jolt."_

_"Sora!" Thankfully, Sora was rescued from the tickle ambush as Riku and Kairi turned toward the unfamiliar voice. All three of them were surprised to see another bushy-haired boy running up the sandy dunes toward them. He was sporting blonde hair and looked slightly older than Riku._

_Riku instinctively shielded Kairi. "Who are you supposed to be?"_

_But the BHK ignored him and stared pointedly at Sora. "Sora! You've got to wake up!"_

_"Wake up?" Sora didn't know who this boy was, but there was definitely something familiar about him. "But I just woke up!"_

_"We're not dead yet! There's still a chance we can finish Xemnas once and for all!"_

_Kairi and Riku looked back at Sora, who began clutching his head between his palms as he struggled to remember. "Sora, do you know this guy?"_

_"I..." Sora looked up and was stunned to find that the clear, blue sky had immediately darkened to a dull, purplish hue. Debris was being whipped around as bits and pieces of the island were being sucked into a vortex replacing the spot where the sun used to shine. Riku and Kairi had disappeared, but the blonde-haired kid still remained._

_"Think, Sora!" He grabbed Sora's shoulders and shook with great vigorous movements. "You have to remember where you are!"_

_Sora rapidly blinked his eyes in an effort to regain his sense of reality. "I don't understand..."_

_"So, you have come this far and still you understand nothing!" Sora whirled around and saw a flash of a man with tan skin, orange eyes and long white hair. The name 'Ansem' quickly ran through his mind, as if his brain were a computer streaming data into it._

_"Why? Why can't I remember?" The sand beneath Sora's feet hardened into white tiling._

_"No surprise, seeing as you also couldn't remember her name!" Finding himself standing in a corridor of white, Sora noticed a blonde woman in a black coat glaring sadistically at him. "Talk about heartless!"_

_"I get it now..." the blonde teenager said. "This must be what they mean by your life flashing before your eyes!" He gave a reassuring pat on Sora's shoulder. "Sora, don't worry! Just ride these memories out!"_

_"You would knowingly shackle your heart with a chain of memories born of lies?" This time it was a pink-haired man in a black coat speaking._

_"Lies? What is he talking about?" Sora's head was spinning as familiar voices, ghostly images and events danced around his body. Although his heart felt conflicted, Roxas ("That's his name...Roxas") stood by him the entire time, alleviating the burden._

_"Is she that important to you?" A man with blue shaggy hair now stood in his path. Although his face was expressionless, an aura of rage seemed to be stirring in his core._

_Sora was finally starting to remember everything. Organization XIII. Kingdom Hearts. Heartless and Nobodies. His search for Riku._

_...His promise to Kairi._

_He was at Destiny Islands again at the usual tree. Riku was sitting on the trunk as he and Sora looked out toward the horizon. Kairi ran up to them clutching a bottle. Inside was a note from King Mickey._

_Then more recent memories began to play in front of his eyes. The wedding ceremony. The invasion. Kairi's kidnapping. The fight to rescue her..._

_...The numerous times of seeing her stripped._

_Time slowed down from its speeding through nostalgia until he finally saw himself freeing Kairi from the tentacles and taking every opportunity he could to protect her. Sora had flung Kairi to safety before Xemnas triggered a huge explosion that overtook his body. He saw Kairi become Final Form once again, only to be defeated. Xemnas stood over her, his Keyblade hovering above her heart..._

_"This is it, Sora. Are you ready?" The Keyblade master closed his eyes as he felt his consciousness finally seeping into the present._

_"Once more..."_


	48. Eternal Recurrence

***KNOCK KNOCK***

Startled by the sudden knocking, the blue-haired woman's head jerked up from her drawer rummaging.

"Who is it?"

"It's Xion," came the muffled reply through the closed door. As she walked toward the door in lacy periwinkle underwear, Aqua lazily raised her arms above her head, stretching out her spine. Opening the door revealed a short black-haired girl holding up a fluffy, purple towel around her damp, naked body. "Have you seen my conditioner?"

Aqua motioned for Xion to come in. "I believe Ven has it." Xion shuffled into the bedroom and sighed.

"Again? Why doesn't he buy his own? I mean, his hair keeps draining the bottle faster than Pooh chugs honey."

"Don't worry about it. I'll lend you mine." As Aqua headed back to her dresser, she looked back over at Xion. "What happened to your clothes?"

Xion fidgeted slightly underneath her towel. "I forgot to take my clean clothes with me to the bathroom and accidentally locked myself out of my room." Then she noticed Aqua's state of dress. "What about you? Why are you in your underwear?"

"Before you continue to ogle my cleavage, could you please close the door behind you?" Aqua shot a quick glance toward the open door, straining her ears for sounds of movement in the hallway. "I don't think either of us want the boys to get some free fanservice."

Xion giggled as she complied with the request. "Well, that's what happens when you open up a temporary lodging for the "lost" characters of Kingdom Hearts in a magical pocket dimension at the edge of the universe. You end up housing more guys than girls here."

"Until the series needs us directly involved, we need somewhere to live off-screen, right?" Aqua held up a clear, plastic bottle with a creamy, turquoise substance inside it. "The only conditioner I have right now is this two-in-one anti-dandruff shampoo."

"You still didn't answer my question, though. Why exactly are you half-naked?"

"One, it's my room. I can dance around completely naked if I want. And two, you just caught me after my daily yoga. I was about to head for the shower myself." She handed Xion her shampoo and stopped herself. "Wait. Did you say that you locked yourself out of your room?" Aqua raised an eyebrow. "You can summon a giant key that can unlock any keyhole."

"But I lost that ability when Roxas absorbed me." There was a curious tone in her voice that made Aqua think that Xion was just grasping for an excuse not to be wrong, but decided to let it go. Xion suddenly asked, "So have you read it yet?"

"The story about Sora and Kairi's wedding? I think it's sweet." Then Aqua pursed her lips. "Although, I feel sorry for Kairi being stripped repeatedly. And I can't imagine going through all that tickle torture," she added as an afterthought.

"Why? You ticklish?" Xion gently poked Aqua's exposed left side, immediately making the blue-haired woman squeak.

"Hey! No tickles!" Aqua giggled. Although she was trying to be serious, she couldn't help but grin despite herself.

Xion had a sly smirk on her face, barely hiding the fact that she wanted to continue her assault. However, she realized that the resulting tickle fight would cause her towel to come off, exposing her in more ways than one. Instead, she decided to get back to the point. "So who do you think is behind all of this?"

"You don't think it ends with Xemnas?"

"I think it's more complicated than that. He may be power hungry, but I doubt that he was able to come up with this by himself."

Aqua shrugged. "True. Although I think it would be pretty stupid if the mastermind ended up being Walt Disney's ghost."

Xion peered at the bottle in her hands. "Why do you need anti-dandruff shampoo? Does your head look like a blizzard in summer without it?" she asked playfully.

"Okay, that's it. Give me back my bottle." Aqua made a grab for it, but Xion backed up and stretched her arm out of Aqua's range. Her calf hit Aqua's bed and she tumbled backward onto the mattress with a soft _ploomph._ Unfortunately for her, Aqua quickly dove in and grabbed both of Xion's wrists and pinned them above her head.

Xion's eyes widened in shock as she realized what Aqua was planning to do. The black-haired girl struggled to free herself, but with Aqua's body weight straddled on top of her, all she accomplished was loosening the towel wrapped around her body.

Aqua smirked and shifted her grip, easily pinning her victim's wrists with one hand. She gently placed the fingertips of her free hand on Xion's forearms and began lightly tracing down the length of her arms. Xion struggled not to let her tormentor know this was affecting her, but the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl upward.

"Now what was that about my head looking like a blizzard?" Aqua rested her fingers on the taut surface of Xion's right underarm.

"I-I-I'm sorreheehee!" Xion burst into musical giggles as Aqua took her pointer finger and began applying ticklish pressure into the armpit.

"Oh, you're laughing at me now?" Aqua asked in a mock-offended tone. "I guess I can see how this is all funny to you." Xion shrieked with laughter as Aqua's fingers curled into a claw and rapidly tickled through the fluffy towel's surface.

The younger girl's body bucked as her entire upper body was mercilessly tickle-tortured. She squirmed with helpless ticklishness, trying to desperately push the blue-haired beauty away with her hips, but Aqua was older, taller and stronger than she was. Her legs kicked uselessly at the air, unable to get a decent foothold to dig into. Xion was quickly running out of breath when...

"Hey, Aqua?" The girls froze at the sound of Ven opening the door. "Have you seen-" The bushy-haired teenager stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the scantily-clad girls on the bed. Just as Xion predicted, her towel finally dropped open, revealing her nude form before the boy. Before Ven could comprehend what he was seeing, Aqua rushed at Ven and gripped the first blunt object she could wrap her fingers around.

***WHACK*** Ven's head snapped forward as Aqua cracked him across the back of the head with his old wooden Keyblade.

"Ven, you pervert! Next time knock before you enter a girl's room!" The Roxas look-alike squeezed his eyes shut and flailed his hands around in a panicked frenzy.

"I swear I didn't see anything! Not even that star-shaped mole on your-" A stray hand accidentally pawed against Aqua's bra cup, pulling it down slightly.

***WHAM!*** Ven slumped to the floor in an unconscious heap. Aqua sighed as she readjusted her bra.

"Xion? Next time I ask you to close the door, please make sure you lock it."

* * *

Kairi's Keyblade clattered across the floor as Xemnas disarmed her. Although winded and worn out, the Princess of Heart had no intention of giving up. She threw her arm out and summoned it back to her hand, only for Xemnas to rush up and knee her in the stomach with his Keyblade-turned-greave. As she doubled over in pain, Xemnas intertwined his clawed fingers together and slammed a hammerblow in-between her shoulder blades, sending Kairi sprawling to the floor.

"Naminé, has our magic recharged yet?" Her biceps trembled as she struggled to push herself back up.

_"No, it's-"_ Before Naminé could say any more, Kairi felt Xemnas crouch down and wrap his pointy claws around her wrists. He jerked her body upward, suspending her into a "T" shape.

**"NO MORE."** Kairi let out a blood-curdling scream as she felt deep agonizing pain jolt throughout her body. Xemnas had roughly yanked her arms out of their sockets like a Thanksgiving wishbone, causing the Keyblade to fall uselessly from her lifeless fingers. Knowing full well that she was virtually defenseless, Xemnas unceremoniously tossed Kairi onto her back. With her hair disheveled, dress ripped and the lack of endorphins to ease her throbbing paralyzed limbs, Kairi finally broke down and began to cry.

**"YOU ARE BEATEN, PRINCESS."** Xemnas pointed his Keyblade at her helpless body. **"YOUR HEART WILL BE SET FREE FROM ITS VESSEL AND PROVIDE THE POWER TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED."**

"Naminé..." Kairi murmured. "...help..."

_"I'm trying! It's not working!"_

"Can't...end...like...this..." Kairi gritted her teeth as she willed her fingers to move, but they didn't even twitch. Xemnas calmly placed his foot on Kairi's stomach and steadied his stance. He raised his Keyblade, ready to stab without interference this time.

**"FAREWELL...KAIRI."** Kairi closed her eyes, bracing herself for oblivion.

_"In brightest day..."_ A familiar voice echoed through the arena, causing Xemnas to whirl around and swipe his Keyblade, only to whiff air.

_"In blackest night..."_ Through her tear-blurred eyes, Kairi became aware that Sora's body had disappeared from where he had fallen. Hope flourished within her heart.

_"Beware our power..."_ Xemnas' gaze slowly swept the battlefield, unaware that Sora and Riku's Keyblades had vanished as well.

_"Kingdom Hearts...is LIGHT!"_ Xemnas felt a ghostly presence pass through his body along with two Keyblades that slashed through his very core. The Armored Superior buckled to his knees as his attacker ran up to Kairi.

Floral bells chimed above the Princess' body, washing over her a blissful, comforting feeling that one gets from soaking in a warm bubble bath. The next thing Kairi noticed was that she could move her limbs painlessly again.

Sitting herself up, Kairi was greeted to the sight of a grinning Sora holding out his hand toward her. "Miss me?"

"Sora!" She enthusiastically grabbed Sora's hand and before either of them knew it, Kairi had pulled him in and met her lips with his. She felt herself melt with pleasure as relief and attraction coursed through her body. As soon as their lips broke apart, both parties couldn't help but blush.

"Wow, Kairi. It took coming back from near-death to finally kiss me?"

Kairi could only giggle bashfully. "Hey, I kissed you! Back at the wedding hall when I woke you up, remember?"

"Pecks don't count," Sora teased.

_"Roxas!"_ Naminé couldn't have been more relieved. _"But you were dead, weren't you?"_

_"Once More and Second Chance abilities,"_ Roxas replied.

"How are you feeling?" Sora asked Kairi.

"Besides the need for a tailor that can create damage-proof clothing and a warm, private shower, I'm feeling completely refreshed!"

_"And no, you're not joining us in that private shower,"_ Naminé quipped. _"But what did you do? Curaga doesn't restore magic yet we're both maxed out!"_

Sora ruffled his bushy head with embarrassment. "I completely forgot that Queen Minnie gave us a Megalixir to give to you when we came to rescue you."

_"And before you get on our case, it's a good thing we saved it or else we wouldn't have been able to survive that stab wound,"_ Roxas added.

"Even so, we're right back where we started." Kairi's hope began to dwindle as she realized the severity of the situation. "We may be at 100% now, but Xemnas doesn't seem to be any weaker."

"Not entirely accurate," Sora argued. "You've managed to crack open his armor, giving us a target. Better than what we were facing before."

_"And Sora was in Limit Form,"_ Roxas chimed in. _"Ironically, that limited our attacks. But Sora's regular form doesn't have as many restrictions."_

As Xemnas climbed to his feet, Kairi pursed her lips in thought. "We're still missing that edge. Xemnas outclasses us in strength, speed and skill. The only advantage we have is the numbers game."

_"Any suggestions?"_ Naminé asked. As if in answer to their prayers, a soft light began to trickle over the cockpit. The combatants looked up and felt a wash of rainbow light blanket over their bodies. For Sora and Kairi, it gave them a feeling of soothing strength. Xemnas, however, was starting to look apprehensive. _"Do you feel that?"_

Kairi nodded. "Yeah...it's the other Princesses of Heart. They're lending us their light!"

_"This seems really cliché..." _Roxas said._ "But at this point, we'll take it!"_

**"NO!"** In an uncharacteristic display of panic, Xemnas summoned his wings and soared upward, channeling the darkness for another burst. **"BE GONE!"**

Sora and Kairi tensed up, bracing themselves for the oncoming attack. To Roxas and Naminé's surprise, neither of them seemed to make any attempt to evade the attack.

_"Uh, guys?"_ Roxas had an understandably worried tone in his voice. _"This isn't exactly the time to play chicken with explosions."_

_"You're not seriously going to take this without defending, are you?"_

"Have faith," Kairi replied. "The power of all seven hearts of pure light are being combined and given to us. Don't you know what that means?"

"We can summon Captain Planet?" Sora joked. As the other three groaned at the pale attempt at comedy, Xemnas released the darkness, engulfing the battlefield in an earth-shattering eruption.

The Armored Superior hovered in the sky, peering through the dissipating clouds of darkness for any signs of life. His eye slits seemed to widen slightly as two levitating bodies of light shone through the haze. As Xemnas descended from the sky, the dust cleared to reveal Sora and Kairi in their Final Forms.

Sora had floating behind him not one, but TWO Ultima Weapons, the other one in the form that he had wielded back when he was 14. Kairi, however was not wielding her floral Keyblade. Instead, she was **also** possessing two Ultima Weapons. Unlike Sora's, however, the two Keyblades actually seemed to have a combination of characteristics from the original two with their blue, white and gold appearances.

"Hey, Xemnas..." Sora flashed a confident grin. "Eat your heart out."

Kairi glanced over at Sora and rapidly batted her eyelashes teasingly. "Really, Sora? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Um...how about 'Suck on my big, fat f$#*$ g heart?'" Kairi's jaw dropped open at Sora's quotation.

"Okay, first of all, language. Second, out of character. Third, where in the universe did you pick that up?!" A white, gloved hand patted Kairi on the shoulder from behind.

"Don't worry about it, Kairi. You know how the darn-fangled information super-highway impresses upon youths today." Kairi whipped around and was stunned to see Naminé's corporeal body floating behind her.

The memory witch was sporting a new outfit consisting of vanilla knee-high boots, a sky-blue cocktail dress, and white elbow-length gloves. Levitating around her was Kairi's flowery Keyblade along with the blue and gray one from earlier.

"Naminé? You're-"

"We'll worry about that later," Roxas' voice cut her off. Sora turned and was just as surprised as Kairi to find Roxas hovering right next to them. Unlike the other three who were wearing different clothes, Roxas was now donning steel blue, gold and black armor in a style similar to Xemnas' and the Lingering Will. In his left hand was Two Become One while his right held a Keyblade that sported a black handle, gold pommel and a gold rain guard. "Ready?"

Naminé sighed. "Really? We only get new pieces of fabric and you get to wear armor?"

Roxas shrugged. "Hey, it's not like I knew this was going to happen."

"If you say so." Naminé pointed her gaze and the flowery Keyblade toward Xemnas. "Let's end this." The group glanced at each other and shared a nod of agreement. The four of them swept their Keyblades above their heads before transforming into apparitions of light. Soaring up to Xemnas' level, they circled around him like sharks to blood.

Xemnas threw out his arms, sending phantom Keyblades towards them, but the projectiles passed through them like illusions.

"Xemnas!" Kairi's voice boomed. "Everything that's happened to us is because of you! You used Sora, Riku and I as guinea pigs for your twisted experiments!"

"You see hearts as just tools, an energy source, yet blind yourself from its true essence," Naminé added. "It's not about light and darkness. And it's not just a heart by itself. The true power comes from the connections each heart resonates with one another."

"By throwing away your heart, you waste your true potential," Roxas chimed in. "Raw power is nothing without the bonds to support it."

"You never cared about anyone but yourself." Sora's voice was unwavering as he spoke. "You rely on only your power alone. For us, there will always be someone new to meet, someone to connect with. That's why our hearts' radiance is infinite!"

Xemnas' armor clattered as the light's energy overwhelmed him. The beings of light stopped at the four corners of the ship and zipped straight at their target in the center of the makeshift cross.

_**"EXISTENTIAL MIRAGE!"**_

**"TAKE THIS!"** Sora's body pierced through the small crack in Xemnas' armor, causing pieces to chip off leaving a bigger hole.

**"TAKE THAT!"** Roxas continued where Sora left off; his attack made the cracks travel up into the chest plate and across Xemnas' back.

**"NEVER AGAIN!"** Kairi's strike shattered Xemnas' chest plate into pieces, forcing the cracks to finally reach his helmet.

**"UM...FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!"** Naminé finished the Limit by smashing her Keyblades onto Xemnas' head.

As Xemnas' armor burst, Roxas glanced over at Naminé. "Really, Naminé? 'Friendship is magic?' Out of all of the finishing quotes you could come up with, you chose 'My Little Pony?'"

"Hey, I was under pressure, alright? I don't do many finishers like you guys!" Naminé shrugged. "Would something like 'I will change your mind' have worked better?"

"It's okay, Naminé," Kairi reassured her. "You'll get another chance." Their attack complete, the four of them sank gently back to the ground. There was another burst of light, leaving Sora and Kairi back in their normal outfits with only the original three Keyblades in their hands. Roxas and Naminé felt tinges of sadness as their bodies faded into the echoes of consciousness for their respective counterparts once again.

Xemnas fell to the ground hard, landing on his knees with a sickening metallic creak. Sora and Kairi raised their Keyblades in ready stances, waiting to see if they had finally managed to put their opponent down for good. To their surprise, Xemnas seemed to no longer notice them.

"No...More...Uh..." Chunks of his remaining armor clattered to the floor in pieces.

Kairi's eyes narrowed as the remnants of the helmet finally began to flake off. "Wait...that's not Xemnas." Indeed, the armor's occupant had a lighter skin and hair color than what she remembered.

The image of a young man's portrait in Ansem the Wise's study flashed through Sora's memory. His eyes widened as the face was finally revealed. "You're right! That's Xehanort!" There was no mistaking it.

Xehanort clutched at his head before tossing his head back and yelled out in pain.

**"NO...MORE...AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"** As the rest of his armor dissolved into ashes, Xehanort rose to his feet, his eyes eerily blank. He raised his Keyblade and stared at the couple with a renewed, but dwindling second wind. **"I WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO END THIS WAY..."** The unmasked Xehanort took his Keyblade, and to Sora and Kairi's astonishment, pressed the blade's tip to his heart. **"THIS BODY HAS SERVED ITS PURPOSE."** An orb of light popped out of his chest and hovered wistfully as its master started to chuckle. **"OUT WITH THE OLD AND BRITTLE VESSEL, AND IN WITH A YOUNGER, STRONGER NEW ONE!"**

_"Wait a minute. 'This body?'_ Naminé repeated. _"Was Xehanort being possessed this whole time?"_ With startling speed, the orb ruthlessly flew toward the couple.

The same chilling thought popped into both Sora and Kairi's minds and they didn't like their choices. Taking the hit for the other person meant that their bodies would be possessed and forced to fight each other. Letting the other sacrifice themselves would end up with the same result. Unsure of what to do, Sora and Kairi could only lift their Keyblades up to guard and hope that they would be able to retain control after impact.

**"SUBMIT!"**

"You need some new material, Xemnas." Riku flew in from above, landed in front of his friends and threw his palm out. Amazingly, instead of being possessed, the orb of light smacked against Riku's hand, only to be trapped by his curled fingers. "You can't possess someone who's already rejected you before." Riku summoned his Way to the Dawn to his free hand and tossed the ball up into the air. "Stop stealing other people's bodies and vanish with your own!" He shifted his weight and took a batter's swing with his Keyblade, knocking Xehanort's heart out into the cold oblivion of Gummi space.

With heart and body defeated, Xehanort's form dissipated into darkness, leaving no traces of having ever been there.

Kairi ran up to Riku and gave him an appreciative hug. "Thank you, Riku!"

Sora chuckled and gave Riku's back a hearty pat. "Always the one with the last word."

_"But is it over?"_ Naminé asked hesitantly. The ground beneath them rocked at an angle, causing the trio to almost fall over. Kairi instinctively latched onto Sora's arm to retain her balance.

"What's going on?!" she yelled as an enormous din began reverberating throughout the cockpit.

_"Without Xemn-, I mean, Xehanort, this Kentauros Form can no longer exist!"_ Roxas replied. _"We've got to get back to the Gummi ship!"_ As if on cue, the rainbow tunnel of light faded from sight, effectively trapping the Keyblade wielders.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sora exclaimed. "Is it just me or do we have the worst luck of surviving final boss fights in one piece?"

_"At least it can't get any-"_ Naminé started to say.

***KABOOM*** The combatants looked up in horror to see an exploding fireball where their Gummi Ship had been.

"No! The Princesses!" The Heartless had finally managed to overwhelm the remaining survivors. Instinct turned their attention toward the only hearts left in the vicinity. Kairi groaned. "Did you really have to say that, Naminé?"

"Look!" Riku pointed toward the spot where Xehanort previously occupied. A growing pool of darkness began to gush upward like the ship had a broken wound torn open, seeping out like purplish blood that consumed the battlefield. With nowhere to run, the darkness began to pull the Destiny Island trio down, sinking them into the endless abyss like quicksand.

_"I'm getting déjà vu here,"_ Roxas exclaimed. _"This is the part where Naminé reaches her hand out and pulls us up, right?"_

_"I'm a little busy here, Roxas!"_ Naminé snapped.

"Hey, at least you had help, Roxas," Sora said. "I went through this twice and it's not like Kairi was able to help me either time."

"Well, excuse me for having my own problems," Kairi shot back.

"Okay, seriously? What is with you four?" Riku struggled to pull his leg out from the darkness, but it was no use. "You act lovey-dovey one moment then start bickering like an old, married couple the next. Make up your mind already!"

_"Kairi! Cast Holy!"_ Naminé suggested. Kairi tried to lift her Keyblade to cast the spell, but to her dismay, her weapon was already halfway sunk into the darkness. Her arms quivered as she grasped the handle and tried to pull it out. Unfortunately, the Keyblade wouldn't budge and only caused her to pull herself even deeper.

"I can't! It's stuck!" With the darkness making its way up her midriff, Kairi was starting to lose hope. "Wait a minute! Sora!" She whipped her head around at him. "When you sank into the darkness, did anything bad happen to you?"

Sora's eyes rolled back as he thought back to the previous times he had been in this situation. "Other than losing consciousness? Not that I can think of. Why?"

"I hope this works." The Princess of Heart stopped struggling and closed her eyes. Her chest heaved slowly as she took deep, long breaths.

_"Kairi, what are you doing?!"_ Naminé cried in a panic. _"We can't give up after all we've been through!"_

"Nothing bad happened to Sora, right?" Kairi smiled. "Besides, there's one thing that I have that the boys don't possess." She took a deep breath and dunked her head into the darkness, allowing her body to be swallowed whole. As Sora's jaw dropped in disbelief, Riku shrugged.

"She's right, you know," Riku said. "There's nothing to fear from the darkness. Just like light, it's only bad depending on how it's used. The darkness itself isn't to blame." And with that, Riku plunged his whole body under, leaving Sora and Roxas waist-deep and sinking.

_"You don't think they're just talking under stress, do you?"_ Roxas asked rhetorically.

"We know them better than that. They showed no fear or hesitation. Why should we?" Sora let himself fall backward, the darkness catching him with a soft poof. The deafening explosions happening around him quieted to a muffled murmur as Sora's ears sank underneath the darkness.

The last sight that flashed before his eyes was the oncoming Heartless swarm before blinking out. Sora's entire body felt virtually weightless, almost numb from the lack of any pressure against his skin.

The calm, almost eerie silence seemed to amplify the sounds of Sora's heartbeat and breathing.

_"Did we finally die?"_ Roxas asked.

"Considering the sound of our heartbeat, I seriously doubt it." It was a few moments before Sora realized that his eyes were still squeezed shut.

His pupils shrunk from the blinding whiteness as his eyes snapped open. Two formless pinkish blobs floated in front of his vision, growing in size. Sora rubbed his eyes to reveal Kairi and Riku floating up to him.

"Sora!" Kairi threw her body at her lover, pressing her soft chest close to him in a tight embrace.

"Riku! Kairi!" Then Sora realized why he didn't recognize them at first. "Why are we naked?"

"At least it's not just me this time," Kairi said.

_"I call it karma payback for being naked in front of the guys,"_ Naminé replied.

"Insert obvious SoRiKai threesome comeback here and we'll move on with our lives," Riku joked.

Sora ruffled his bushy head. "Where are we? What happened?"

"I'm a Princess of Heart. Heart of pure light trumps pure darkness," Kairi reasoned. "I figured that if all three of our hearts are in close proximity together, my hidden powers would negate any negative effects from the darkness."

_"That still doesn't explain where we are,"_ Roxas said. _"It's not the realm of darkness, that's for sure."_

"I can't believe everyone's gone, though," Sora lamented. "The other Princesses...Donald, Goofy and the King..."

Before they could ponder any further, a wise, gentle voice echoed throughout the white void.

"Well done, Kairi. Sora. Riku." The three of them looked around for the source of the speaker.

"Who is that?" Kairi exclaimed.

_"And why does he sound so familiar?"_ Naminé added.

The trio glanced up and recoiled in a mixture of surprise and fear.

It was him. The creator of the universe.

The one entity that no amount of light, darkness or nothingness could hope to deter.

The one that could create and destroy their very existence.

Tetsuya Nomura.


	49. The New Mickey Mouse Club

Kairi was the first to summon her Keyblade and assume a battle stance (or as best of a stance as she could considering she was floating in white void). Whether this was the real Nomura or not, she didn't want to be caught any more exposed than she already was. Taking her cue, Sora and Riku summoned their weapons as well.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sora exclaimed.

"I'm with Sora on this one!" Kairi added, not letting her gaze waver. "Are you telling us that you were the one behind all of this? You?"

The man dressed in the black casual business suit only smiled. "I'm not the one responsible."

Naminé sniffed disbelievingly. _"You really expect us to believe that?"_

_"Let me guess, your role in this is going to be a big exposition dump."_ If Roxas had fists, they would be shaking with frustration. _"I swear, if you tell us that this whole journey was just a dream..."_

Although there was tension in the void, it wasn't from fear of being erased from existence. It was the feeling of anxiousness that if this man was really their creator, he could easily prolong their journey even further than it already had. An overwhelming god-like aura permeated from his body, but after the numerous "final boss" battles they had to endure, power alone wasn't enough to convince anyone of his true identity.

"There's no need for your Keyblades here." Nomura waved his hands downward trying to calm the Keyblade wielders. Unlike the others who were floating, he seemed to be standing firmly on some invisible floor that they were unable to set foot upon. "You've finally reached the end of this journey, so you can relax."

_"I don't believe he's lying."_ Naminé sounded confident enough for everyone to lower their weapons a smidge. _"Whether he's Nomura or not, I don't sense any hostility coming from him."_

_"He hasn't attacked us yet,"_ Roxas agreed. _"The least we can do is hear him out."_ The trio looked at each other for a few seconds before nodding in silent agreement and returning their Keyblades back into the light.

"Fine, but could you please give us some clothes?!" The Princess of Heart shuddered as goosebumps formed across the surface of her nude skin. "Me being naked is one thing, but I think guys look better when there's at least some parts of the body left to the imagination."

"That's entirely up to you," the creator calmly replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kairi rubbed her hands rapidly over the length of her arms. "Where exactly are we anyway?"

Riku gazed around at the white emptiness of the void. "I know it's not the realm of darkness, light or in-between."

Nomura chuckled. "This, my protagonists, is the realm beyond the fourth wall."

"The fourth..." Kairi shook her head in disbelief. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard since Roxas' last words to Xion."

As soon as the words left her lips, a faint cloud of thought popped into existence above her head displaying the scene of Xion dissolving in Roxas' arms. _"Who else will I have ice cream with?"_

Kairi blinked. "W...What is that supposed to be?"

_"In my defense, I said something completely different in the Japanese version,"_ Roxas said. Then he did a double-take. _"Wait a minute. How in the world did you know about that?"_

"Since you are no longer within your universe, the confines of reality don't apply to you. Until your return, you have access to all of the knowledge of everything that has happened within the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise."

Nomura swept his arms out in a dramatic flourish, signaling numerous thought bubbles to pop up all around the group. Every single cutscene that had ever been recorded and uploaded were now playing, filling the white void with random soundtracks and voices from their past. Time seemed to have no meaning as the Keyblade wielders were able to absorb hours of footage in the matter of seconds like a giant memory dump into their metaphorical hard drives.

"Wow..." Sora gave Kairi a pitying look as he finished reviewing her scenes from Kingdom Hearts 2. "You really were screwed from significant character development. I can see why you have haters."

Jealousy sparked slightly in Kairi's eyes as she saw Sora's younger self flirt with Alice and Naminé. "Really, Sora? I'm out of your sight for one night and you go ahead and start hitting on other girls?"

_"Well, technically that second time was my fault,"_ Naminé corrected her.

Kairi was about to retort when she saw her past self sitting comatose with Riku watching over her. "Is that what I really looked like when my heart was taken?" The girl's face scrunched up at the image. "I'm surprised my body wasn't drooling."

"Believe me, I was thankful that you still had the instinct to hold your bladder the entire time," Riku replied. He frowned at a thought cloud displaying Sora on his knees when he was finally found in his "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness" form.

_"I looked everywhere for you!"_

Riku sighed and gave Nomura a weary look. "I'm starting to wonder if you created those cutscenes just for fanshipping material."

Roxas was silent as scenes of his existence unfolded in front of Sora's eyes, from being found in front of the Twilight Town mansion to his remerging with his other half. To Sora, seeing the events that took place in the year that he was asleep made him feel both sadness for what he missed and guilt for what Roxas gave up for him.

"Roxas, I know it's late, but I'm sorry."

_"It's okay, Sora. I know in your heart that you wish that Naminé and I could exist in our own separate bodies apart from you and Kairi. But we're kinda content with the whole switching places now."_

_"Besides, now that we know it's possible, it'll probably be a matter of time before we can finally find a way to create new bodies for us just like the data Organization did with Kairi,"_ Naminé added.

Meanwhile, Kairi was staring intently at the scene when Sora asked Saix to take him to her.

_"Is she that important to you?"_

_"Yeah, more than anything!"_

_"Show me how important."_ Kairi's heart felt like it quadrupled in size as Sora got down on his knees and touched his face to the ground, begging to be reunited with her. She placed her hand over her chest by the sincerity of the moment, before remembering that she was still naked.

She reluctantly tore herself away from the cutscene archive which immediately zapped out of existence and looked back at Nomura again. "A-anyway, what did you mean that clothing is up to us?"

"See for yourself." The redhead tilted her head questionably and looked back down. To her astonishment, her outfit had reappeared without her noticing.

"What? But how?" She glanced over at Sora and Riku, who were just as surprised to find themselves dressed as well.

"In this realm, anything you can dream will come to life."

_"That sounds almost suspiciously like we're dead or something,"_ Naminé observed.

"I assure you that you're not dead."

_"Anything you can dream, huh..."_ Roxas murmured.

Sora's face lit up suddenly. "Ooh! There's this one place that I've always wanted to go to!" He closed his eyes and his face scrunched up in concentration. Riku and Kairi saw their surroundings fade in from blank white into tangible shapes. Brightly colored buildings and contraptions glittered into existence around the group with red-bricked paths shimmering into existence underneath their feet. To their surprise, they were standing in the middle of a circular clearing, surrounded by brightly colored buildings with Princess Aurora's castle looming proudly over them. Random food carts and trinket booths were staffed by numerous Moogles that busily zipped around the area. Standing in the center of this activity was a bronze statue of the King and a dapper-looking man holding hands.

"Wait a minute..." Kairi gave the boys a quizzical stare. "Is this where I think it is?"

Riku shrugged and turned toward Sora, who let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, we've never been to Disneyland before and I figured this would be a good time as any." His eyes widened excitedly. "Ooh! I've always wanted to try Splash Mountain!" Before Sora could make a run for it, Kairi yanked him by the back of his collar.

The Princess of Heart couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Out of all the places you could come up with..." Not content with their current surroundings, Kairi closed her eyes and concentrated on changing the world around them. She was met with disappointment and confusion when their surroundings remained unchanged. "Hey! What gives?"

"You all share the same ability to create using dream logic," Nomura explained. "However, Sora's experience in dreaming allows him to create bigger and more complex objects than you or Riku."

Kairi's shoulders slumped. "You mean we can't do anything about it because Sora has narcolepsy?"

_"It does make sense in a way. He does tend to sleep at the most inopportune times,"_ Naminé teased.

"Hey!" Sora crossed his arms in a huff. "I'm standing right here!"

Kairi thought for a moment. "Could we create bodies for Roxas and Naminé?"

"You could. But keep in mind that they must merge back before leaving this realm. Otherwise, they will cease to exist."

Kairi nodded and closed her eyes once again. This time, both her and Sora's body lit up with a warm, dazzling glow. After a few seconds, the ghostly forms of Roxas and Naminé stepped out of their counterparts. The Nobodies looked down at their bodies as they solidified into corporeal apparitions once more.

Roxas stared at his fingers and wiggled them as if to make sure that they were working correctly. He almost lost his balance when Naminé threw herself at him, wrapping her slender arms around his torso and squeezed as hard as she could.

"I've wanted to do this for a while," Naminé purred softly in his ear, causing the blonde boy to blush. Nomura smiled and continued as if nothing else had happened.

"You may have noticed over the past few months that everyone you've ever known has been making nostalgic references that relate to them whether it be movies, films or other game franchises." Nomura placed his hands behind his back and slowly paced away from the group as he spoke. "The main reason is because the spiritual energy of this realm has been leaking through cracks in the fourth wall and into your universe. That is why you knew the existence of me and your roles as video game characters."

Roxas finally broke his embrace with Naminé, but kept one of his arms wrapped around her waist. "Even if what you say is true, how did this happen in the first place?"

Nomura turned back toward the group and jerked his head toward the bushy-haired brunette. "You should ask Sora."

**"WHAT?!"**

All eyes fixed upon Sora, who looked just as shocked as everyone else. "How would I know?"

"The Codebreaker. May I ask where you got it?" Nomura asked.

Sora grinned confidently. "Easy! I got it from..." The smile faded from his lips as he was struck dumbfounded. "Huh. I honestly don't know. All I remember is that it was in my pocket sometime after we returned to the islands."

"So what you're telling us is that this whole mess was because someone corrupted the save file of our universe?" Naminé asked.

Nomura nodded. "It was like a virus, injected into your reality, altering past events in very subtle ways, but just enough to cause a butterfly/domino effect that's resulted in the current situation. The power it held resonated within Sora's very core, affecting everything and everyone that has ever come in contact with him."

"That seems plausible," Kairi said, stroking her chin. "I always had this odd feeling that everything that was going on wasn't supposed to be happening. Almost as if we were experiencing some alternate timeline or something."

"Do you regret it?" Kairi looked thoughtful at Roxas' question.

"On the one hand, it wasn't exactly fun to get beaten up and humiliated." Then she smiled. "However, now that I think about it, it was nice being the one in the spotlight for once."

"You said it, sis," Naminé agreed.

"When the Codebreaker was destroyed, it released residual energy that not only erased all of the combatants in the Keyblade Graveyard, but was absorbed by Data Xemnas. This resulted in returning to his Xehanort form as well as summoning the King and Kentauros forms. His defeat released that energy, transforming into the gateway that led you here."

"Erased?!" Sora's face hardened as he realized that his friends' plight was because of his carelessness.

Sensing Sora's guilt, Kairi gave him a comforting hug from behind. "It's okay, Sora. You didn't know that would happen."

But something was bothering Riku. "Wait. Xemnas became Xehanort, right? That would mean he returned to possessing a body that wasn't his. When he released his heart, shouldn't the body he discarded be returned to its original owner?"

"That body...was nothing more than a shell," came the reply.

"You mean he was a Nobody pretending to be Xehanort?" Riku pressed.

Nomura looked a bit pensive before answering. "Yes and no. The Garden of Assemblage was originally created to house data on the Organization. Their experiences and memories were recorded in real time until their...defeat. However, that was all they were: data replicas of the original Organization."

"That would explain why my doppelganger didn't recognize Naminé," Roxas mused. "After all, I didn't meet her until the last week of my existence."

"I remember one of the Secret Ansem Reports said something about life needing a body, soul and heart," Sora said. "Their data probably acted as an artificial soul while they needed Kairi to create brand-new bodies and hearts."

Tired of standing, Naminé led Roxas to the bronze statue of Mickey and sat down on its pedestal. "Considering how many people were created out of you, I'm surprised you weren't the one they kidnapped instead."

Kairi suddenly remembered something that bothered her as well. "Why did they believe they were trapped in the computer? Considering that their individual memories ended as soon as their Nobodies were destroyed, shouldn't they have realized that they were computer programs?"

"Hey, it's not as simple as you might think," Roxas interjected. "I was clueless about the data Twilight Town until the Dusks started hacking the system."

"Or maybe I'm just that good at what I do," Naminé teased. "I'm like a brain hacker."

"Age of the geek, baby," Kairi added. When the boys gave her a blank look, her face reddened slightly. "Never mind."

"They didn't realize they were programs because their data remained locked in stasis until they were activated," Nomura explained. "This was probably around the time that you received the bottled letter from King Mickey. As soon as that letter was delivered, their consciousnesses were awakened, allowing them to remotely summon and control Heartless and Nobodies from within Radiant Garden's mainframe."

"If what you're saying is true, that would explain why Xehanort's body disappeared as soon as he released his heart." Riku's face looked grim. "He wasn't sacrificing someone else's body, it was his own."

Kairi's eyes suddenly flashed with anger. "If the Organization XIII we fought wasn't real, are you telling us that we went through all of that for nothing?!"

Nomura shook his head. "You didn't fight in vain. I wanted to make sure you were prepared."

The redhead didn't like where this was going. "Prepared for what?"

"Since you know the entire Kingdom Hearts timeline up to this point, you know that Xehanort, the REAL Xehanort isn't defeated. Ever since you defeated both his Nobody and Heartless with the Keyblade, he will make his return." He gave the group a sweeping gaze. "And when he does, it'll be up to the five of you to defeat him once and for all."

"So this whole incident was a test?" Naminé asked.

"More like a tutorial. The threat to your entire universe is bigger than any of you could possibly imagine."

"Try us," Roxas challenged.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give you any spoilers. Let's just say that Sora, Riku and Kairi are at the heart of the matter." As he noticed their faces fell, he smiled. "Don't worry, you'll figure everything out soon enough."

"Even Sora?" Naminé teased.

"Hey!"

Kairi figured now was the best time to ask the lingering question on everyone's mind. "Do we still have to get married?" Nomura stroked his chin thoughtfully as if thinking about it. After a few moments, he shrugged.

"That's entirely up to you. Data Xemnas wasn't lying when he said Ansem the Wise's decree was a forgery. You don't **HAVE** to get married. Personally, I would rather you wait until you were older."

"So what happens now?" Sora looked downtrodden. "Even if we return to our universe, our friends are all gone."

"Don't worry. They're not dead." That caught everyone by surprise.

"Really?!" Sora's heart immediately filled with hope. "How did that happen?"

Nomura chuckled. "I'm your creator, remember? I have their backup data."

"And Radiant Garden?" Kairi added. "There's no point in them returning if they have no place to go back to."

"With the Codebreaker destroyed and its residual energy dissipating, the cracks in the fourth wall have finally begun repairing themselves. When you return, all of the collateral damage from the incident will be restored to their original states."

Riku stood silent throughout all of this with his head dropped to his chest and his arms crossed in thought. He finally spoke up. "There's a catch to all of this, isn't there?"

"When you leave this place and return to your universe, the fourth wall will not be the only thing that's sealed up. This realm's energies still flow throughout your bodies, but cannot exist without a consistent connection outside of its natural source. As soon as you return, your memories of me, the Kingdom Hearts timeline and everything you've learned since the wedding will be erased. At least-"

"What?!" Kairi couldn't believe her ears. "But what about all the progress we've made over this entire journey? If everything goes back to the way it was, I'll end up not being able to use the Keyblade anymore!"

"Yeah! It's not fair that you made us go through all those tutorials and ended up going the entire dream sequence route!" Naminé snapped. "Sora already went through all of this in the beginning of the first game!"

"Not to mention, what was the whole point of dumping all this exposition onto us if you were going to make us forget anyway?" Roxas added.

"I already had my memories messed with in Chain of Memories!" Sora exclaimed. "Doing this to Kairi and Naminé makes any character development they obtained null and void!"

"Calm down! Let me finish!" Nomura cleared his throat. "What I was about to say before you interrupted was at least that's what **WOULD** have happened. However, as we've been talking, I've been trying to restore the timeline to its original state, but the alterations are too far embedded into your universe's code that it's virtually impossible to erase the events of everything that you've encountered from your memories."

The girls exchanged excited looks. "You mean that I'm still going to be a Keyblade-summoning Princess of Heart?" Kairi asked enthusiastically.

Nomura smiled and nodded. "Now that I think about it, all of you were eventually going to stumble upon this information in one form or another. There's no harm in letting you retain knowledge of the past as it doesn't spoil what's planned for Kingdom Hearts 3. Your memories will remain untouched. However, I can only restore everyone else's memories up to the point of before your wedding was rudely interrupted." Nomura raised his hand and pointed it at the gaping castle archway of Aurora's castle. A giant black and purplish portal erupted, taking up the entire opening. "This Corridor of Darkness will take you back to your universe. It's a one-way trip, so I suggest you take all the time that you need here."

He began stepping through the portal.

"Wait!" Nomura stopped at Kairi's outburst and looked back over his shoulder. "Are you really Nomura?"

The creator only responded with a mysterious smile and a twinkle in his eye. And with that, he was gone.

"Huh." Kairi exhaled a cleansing breath. "Nomura was actually a lot nicer than I thought."

"Yeah." Naminé giggled. "Remember how we were worried that he could easily write Sora a new girlfriend?"

Roxas and Sora looked surprised. "You two were actually worried about that?"

The boys took their fiancées' hands in theirs. "I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with than you," Sora said with a shy smile.

"Same here," Roxas agreed.

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "What about Xion?"

"Don't ruin the moment."

"Technically, he already wrote Sora a new girlfriend when he replaced Kairi with Naminé," Riku said. Before the others could retort how he ruined the moment, the silver-haired teen quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, Xehanort's still out there somewhere. No matter what we do or where we go, our paths will cross again."

"I say we've gone through enough for now," Sora replied. "If anything, I think we should just enjoy what time we have left before our next big adventure."

"Nomura was right, though." Kairi's eyes narrowed into a determined gaze. "Despite everything we've had to go through, there's no excuse not to take me along this time."

"Oh! One last thing!" Everyone flinched as Nomura's disembodied head popped back in through the portal. "Could you please apologize to Cloud for me next time you see him?"

"Why?" Naminé asked. "What happened?"

"He was in my office complaining about there not being a Final Fantasy VII remake in the works. I was telling him I'd have to talk to him about it later when he gripped his sword in what I think was a passionate gesture, but security took it as an assassination attempt. They got a bit...overenthusiastic." The creator looked slightly embarrassed. "I think they ended up sending him careening into the Great Maw." Nomura gave them a final wave farewell and departed, leaving the group in awkward silence.

Naminé was the first to speak. "Well...we have this entire theme park to ourselves." She threw out her arms and twirled around for emphasis. "And it's not like we're in a rush to get back."

Sora placed a curled finger under Kairi's chin and gently guided her face up to his. "So, Kairi...where do we go from here?" Kairi knew what Sora meant. He wasn't asking what ride or attraction they should go on first. He was asking if she wanted to be by his side and take their life's journey together. Her eyes quickly flickered to Riku, who only shook his head as if saying _"Leave me out of this."_ She glanced over at Roxas and Naminé, who went and embraced each other tightly.

The Princess of Heart wrapped her arms around her Keyblade Knight's neck and pressed her forehead against his. With a smile playing across her soft lips, she uttered words that she had been wanting to let him know for as long as she could remember.

"To infinity and beyond, Sora."


	50. Epilogue: Prelude to Kingdom Hearts 3

_"Dude, seriously?"_

_"Yeah. What do you think?"_

_"Sorry, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. You actually managed to hack your copy of Kingdom Hearts 2 and play as Kairi and Naminé?"_

_"Well, I had to take a few liberties. I did some model swaps, custom animations, new audio files, and a 'clothes dynamic system' which allows the girls' clothes to get ripped apart from damage."_

_"But you're a girl. Why would you want the girls to be getting stripped instead of the guys? If you were capable of doing that to Kairi and Naminé, you could've just as easily done it to Sora and Riku."_

_"What? You think just because I'm female doesn't mean that I'm not into ecchi fanservice?"_

_"No! I didn't mean it like that!"_

_"Uh huh. There was no real reason. I did it for the challenge."_

_"I'm surprised you managed to do the whole Vs. Organization XIII battle. No one has ever been able to get more than three different Organization bosses at the same time since the game can't handle all of that data simultaneously."_

_"Well, the Kingdom Hearts 2 discs can't. That's why I ripped the data onto my computer and worked from there."_

_"So it's not really hacking KH2, just creating your own fangame based on the current software's capabilities."_

_"Pretty much."_

_"Kinda reminds me of that fanmade Chrono Trigger midquel that bridged Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. You know, before Square sent that C&D letter?"_

_"Meh. Not my fault that they didn't think of it first. Besides, I'm not going to make any money off of it. In its current state, the game is still in beta and most computers wouldn't be able to handle the mods."_

_"Wait. What's that file right there? ' ?'"_

_"I haven't been able to figure that out yet. It's one of those key files that seems to hold the entire game together. It can't be modded or hacked without severely corrupting the entire game."_

_"Maybe Nomura put his own secret avatar in the hidden depths of the game where no mere player can see him?"_

_"Yeah, right. If that were true, the internet would've heard about it by now."_

_"Still, you really think it's a good idea to alter the very essence of the game itself?"_

_"Why not? I beat the game legitimately hundreds of time. I think I deserve it. Besides, it's not like the changes will affect anything in canon anyway..."_

* * *

"Wow. Just wow." Kairi closed her eyes and let out a sigh of contentment as she snuggled up closer to Sora. After a plethora of "physical activities," Sora and Kairi lay outside on the deck of their honeymoon suite. There was a slight chill in the air as the couple cuddled underneath the starry night backdrop. To stay warm, Sora had offered his half-jacket to her, but that didn't stop them from pressing up against each other for body heat.

The Keyblade master smiled at the lovely girl curled up against his chest. "Not bad for our first time, huh?"

"Are you kidding? That felt so..." Kairi's shoulders bunched up from happiness. "...exhilarating!"

Sora gently brushed his fingers through her long, red hair. "You're sure you haven't done it before?"

"When I'm with you, I feel like I can do anything," Kairi murmured dreamily. Her eyes suddenly snapped open when she felt something hard pressing up against her thigh. "Um, Sora..."

"Yeah?"

She raised her head up slightly and smirked at him. "Is that your Keyblade or are you still happy to see me?"

Sora couldn't hide his surprise at the playful accusation. He immediately reached underneath the makeshift blanket, rummaged around for a bit, and pulled out Kairi's Keyblade. "Does this answer your question?"

Kairi giggled. "I was wondering where that went." The Princess of Heart took it from his hands and casually tossed it aside before resting her head back against his chest. "You haven't done this with any other girls, have you?" she asked mock-suspiciously.

Sora knew better than to take her seriously. "Why? Jealous?" The sound of his heavy breathing felt soothing to her ears.

"Maaaaybe." She traced a finger lazily over Sora's chest. "Doing it under the stars is the best part." Then her head perked up. "Can we do it again?"

Seeing the excitement in her eyes, Sora flashed a toothy grin. "You're not exhausted?"

Kairi laughed. "No way! I love it!"

The bushy-haired youth inhaled deeply and let out a satisfied sigh before replying, "Of course!"

_"Careful, Sora," _Roxas said._ "If this keeps up, Kairi might break you."_

_"Oh, buck up, Roxas,"_ Naminé teased._ "How many times have we almost died now? Your body can take it."_

"I still can't believe it," Kairi said. "I really flew! If this is what sex feels like, then I can't wait until we get married for real!"

_"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Kairi,"_ the Memory Witch replied.

"It was nice of Peter Pan to give us this honeymoon package even after calling off the wedding," the redhead continued.

Sora nodded. "Tell me about it. I've always wanted to take you back here ever since I learned how to fly. Almost wondered if you'd actually believe me or not."

_"It's all about the happy thoughts,"_ Roxas added.

_"Happy, not perverted, right?"_ Naminé joked. _"No English nannies or chimney sweepers needed!"_

Kairi sat up with Sora following suit. "Seriously, Sora. We would've been mobbed if it weren't for you..."

* * *

Olette's eyes fluttered open in a daze. She found herself sitting in a pew in-between Hayner and Pence, who both seemed groggy themselves. Looking around the wedding hall, she realized that she wasn't the only one who was confused.

"What's going on?" Hayner rubbed his eyes sleepily and stared at her.

"I have no idea. Last thing I remember was that Sora was up at the altar and we were taking bets whether Kairi would go through with this or not." He glanced up at said altar. "Speaking of which, where is Sora?"

"Riku's missing too," Pence observed.

To everyone's astonishment, a corridor of darkness erupted out in the middle of the aisles, causing everyone to rip open their smuggled packages and don their weapons. Donald gave a sideways glare at Goofy.

"Uh, Goofy?" Donald began. "I thought you were in charge of security."

"Yup!" Goofy thrust his chest out proudly. "I'm Captain of the Royal Knights!"

"Then how did all the wedding guests bring their weapons inside with them?"

Goofy shrugged. "Gawrsh, I dunno. All of 'em were carrying long, thin boxes for the weddin'. I thought they were the presents."

Donald crossed his arms and started tapping his webbed foot in impatience. "Were they wrapped?"

"Hmm..." Goofy took off his hat and scratched his head. "Now that you mention it, I don't believe so." Donald smacked his forehead in disbelief.

_"Kairi, wait for us!"_ The Princess of Heart burst out of the portal followed by Sora and Riku. "We're back!" Sora exclaimed. The corridor evaporated, leaving the group smackdab in the middle of a circle of weapons, causing them to flinch.

"It's them!" Selphie yelled. There was a collective sigh of relief as blades, guns and magic were lowered. The other teenagers ran up to the Keyblade wielders and gave them affectionate hugs.

"Kairi! Why aren't you wearing your wedding gown?" Olette raised an eyebrow. "Did you get cold feet after all?"

"And what happened to the tuxedo I lent you?" Tidus asked Sora.

Before the former bride and groom could answer, Riku cut them off. "I think we better get the announcement over with. The sooner, the better."

Kairi cleared her throat and cupped her hands in front of her mouth to shout over the commotion the other wedding guests were making. "Attention, everyone! I'm sorry, but the wedding's off!"

There was a moment of silence as her words sunk in. Then everyone responded with a huge **"WHAT?!"**

"I know this will be hard to believe, but this entire wedding was a plot to destroy everyone's worlds again!"

"Don't worry, though. We took care of it!" Sora chimed in.

Riku walked up to King Mickey and got down on one knee to speak easier.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty. The letter you got from Ansem the Wise was actually forged by Xehanort beforehand."

The King looked slightly wary. "How do you know this?"

"It's a long story and now might not be a good time to give you the details. But we're telling the truth." King Mickey shifted his gaze towards Sora and Kairi, who affirmed Riku's statements with quick nods.

"If what you say is true..." The King smiled warmly at the trio. "...then there's no reason to continue the ceremony, is there?"

"So what happens now?" Olette asked. "You're not seriously thinking of sending the guests home after all the trouble of getting them here, are you?" Indeed, the crowd was getting restless and Kairi didn't know what to tell them. She turned to Riku.

"Any ideas?" Riku crossed his arms and dropped his head deep in thought.

Surprisingly, it was Sora who came up with the solution. "We're still having the reception!" he called out. "So, free food!"

The wedding hall went silent again, only to be broken by Jack Sparrow shouting "To the rum!" Everyone misheard him say 'room,' but cheered nonetheless. With the mob crisis averted, the wedding guests began clearing out to the reception hall.

The Destiny Island trio waited until the wedding hall was empty before releasing sighs with relief.

"Figures," Kairi said, shaking her head. "Of course they wouldn't care less as long as there's free stuff."

_"Almost like they're pirates,"_ Roxas observed.

_"Well, one of them is a pirate," Naminé corrected him. "I guess that would make the rest of them his crew?"_

Sora wrapped an arm around Kairi's waist, giving her a quick one-armed squeeze. "Looks like you're not going to have to worry about ruling Radiant Garden after all, Kairi."

The redhead winked at him coyly. "Just because I'm a Princess of Heart doesn't necessarily mean I have to rule over something. Look at Alice and Belle!"

"Regardless, I think we should keep the rest of the exposition to ourselves for the time being." Sora and Kairi looked stunned at Riku's suggestion, making the silver-haired teen chuckle. "I mean let's enjoy the party first. No reason to spoil it!"

The trio snapped out of their private conversation bubble when the sounds of expensive china breaking and Stitch's cackling echoed from the reception hall.

"Somebody catch that panda!" Mushu's voice rang out.

The Keyblade wielders looked at each other with smiles of amusement and without another word, headed off to rescue their friends from an ever-increasing catering bill...

* * *

"You know, it's odd," Sora said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I looked around for Tarzan, but he seems to have vanished out of existence. I asked around for him, but no one knew who I was talking about. Maybe Nomura wasn't able to restore him or something."

_"Could he have swapped his data with Tron?" _Roxas suggested. _"I'm surprised that he was outside the datascape this time around."_

"Now that I think about it, I don't think you ever mentioned Tarzan at all until the wedding," Kairi pointed out.

"I haven't? Strange. Maybe Naminé didn't put all my memories back exactly the way they were."

_"Hey, don't blame this on me. It's not my fault that a naked man in a loincloth wasn't imprinted deep into your psyche."_

_"Aren't we all naked under our clothes?" _Roxas quipped._ "Goodness knows you girls have proved that."_

_"How exactly do you know that?"_ Naminé gasped in surprise. _"You shouldn't have any memory of me being naked!"_

_"What?! I was talking about Kairi! When were you naked?" _Roxas paused in thought._ "You Mind Crushed me again, didn't you?"_

_"No," _Naminé responded flatly._ "To prove my point, I will now perform the Jedi Mind Meld."_

"Naminé? Let him be." Kairi pursed his lips. "You can't solve everything with a lobotomy."

"Not to mention you combined Star Wars and Star Trek again," Sora added.

"As tempting as it is, changing Sora's alter egos whenever something bad happens to us might be stunting his maturity growth," Kairi said. The corners of her mouth started to twitch downward.

Noticing the slight frown on her lips, Sora could tell there was something on her mind. "What's up, Kairi?"

"Nothing, just reflecting." She stifled a yawn. "Remember when I said to you 'Don't ever change?'"

"How could I forget? Sunset on the dock with just the two of us." Sora absentmindedly caressed the tips of his fingers down Kairi's neck, causing thrills down her spine. "If anything, you ended up changing more than me."

Kairi flashed him a mocking grin. "You're still the adorable, lazy bum I grew up with."

"You know, I've been wondering about that for a while now. What kind of bum are you referring to? A lazy butt or..."

_"What, did you want Sora to don a beige trenchcoat and an orange knit hat shaking a styrofoam cup and shouting 'Change?! You got change?!'"_

Naminé's voice shivered. _"Gee, thanks a lot, Roxas. Now I can't get the image of Sora with facial hair out of my head."_

Sora smiled from ear to ear and began rubbing his thumb and forefinger near the edge of his lips. "I've always wanted to twirl a curly mustache."

"I swear, you can forget about kissing me if you end up with a face full of fuzz. You know how prickly and uncomfortable that can be?"

_"It's like if we forgot to shave our..."_ Naminé stopped herself. _"Just...don't grow anything, okay?"_

_"I really doubt we'll turn into a werewolf like Saix's mother,"_ Roxas replied.

"I feel a bit guilty about Riku," Sora said suddenly.

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"All the hustle and bustle for our wedding and I don't think Riku was able to pick up any girls."

"Please. That's because he wasn't even trying. But now that you mention it, who was that girl with Tidus? I don't think I've seen her before."

"Her? That was Yuna. She's actually a faerie taking on a human form," Sora explained. "I think that she's dating him now."

"Interesting." Sora looked slightly taken back from Kairi's indifference. "What?"

"You don't seem that surprised about her being a faerie."

"Sora, we live in a universe with yellow canary-ostrich hybrids and Moogles. Faeries turning into human girls are considered a normal thing around here."

_"You know, it's strange,"_ Naminé commented. _"Even though they have no memories of fighting alongside each other, everyone still seemed to be drawn together into groups by game."_

"Like Leon and Selphie? Or Auron, Tidus and Wakka?" Sora shrugged. "Maybe they were destined to meet regardless. Getting everyone together for the wedding just happened to speed up that meeting."

"Speaking of games, doesn't it bother you to know that our entire lives have been chronicled into a video game franchise?" Kairi took a look around at her surroundings warily. "There are literally thousands of people out there that know our private lives, watching every move we make, holding power over whether we win or die." Even though she had body heat and Sora's jacket, she couldn't help but shiver slightly. "Now that it's pretty much been confirmed we're not completely in control of our journey, there's always going to be this tiny part of me that doubts whether I'm in full control of my actions or not."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Kairi." Kairi tilted her head, curious. "If anything, everyone will be watching me, Riku and Roxas."

"Not to mention my panties," the redhead muttered darkly. "Seriously, Nomura couldn't have just made underneath my dress a black hole?"

Roxas started to say something, but quickly decided against it. _"I'm not touching that with a ten-foot pole."_

_"Or any other part of your body,"_ Naminé countered.

Sora suddenly grinned. "Okay, how about the rest of your body?"

Before Kairi could react, Sora flipped her over and straddled her, locking her arms against her sides.

"So, I can't touch...here?" He gave a quick tickle poke to her ribs, eliciting a squeak from Kairi. "Or...here?" Sora swiftly prodded her other side. "Or here, or here, orhereorhereorhereorhere..." Dropping all pretenses, Sora rapidly began tickling up and down Kairi's ribcage like playing a keyboard with her giggles as the symphonic piece.

"NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The redhead tried to buck Sora off of her, but his body weight kept her helplessly immobile. All she could do was kick her feet wildly in the air with endless mirth.

Despite having been ruthlessly tickle tortured a few times throughout her adventure, Kairi was surprisingly okay with Sora doing this to her. Although he was being merciless in making her laugh, the feeling of his touch on her body sent tingles pulsating throughout her nervous system. Maybe it was the strong bond of trust they had with each other or the fact that she had wished that he'd always be close to her, but there was no fear or reluctance within her mind or heart.

Kairi was truly enjoying herself, but had a daring idea in mind. When Sora let up for a few seconds, she burst out with "Hey, Roxas! Want to get Naminé too?"

_"WHAT?!"_ Naminé protested, but Kairi was already in the middle of shifting bodies. Naminé struggled to remain out of the nerve endings' reach, resulting in both girls to be in a melded, limbo-like state. The boys were slightly taken back to see Naminé with Kairi's shoulder-length hair and red highlights.

Not to be shown up like this, Sora and Roxas attempted to do the same thing, resulting in Roxas with Sora's brown hair with blonde highlights, giving the illusion of a brilliant gold flame on their heads.

"Roxas! Don't you dare!" Naminé tried to plead with a cute doe-eyed pout, but the adorable gesture backfired as it only spurned more motivation for the ticklers to continue. The boys dug their fingertips into the girls' closed armpits and began vibrating inside the soft, sensitive hollows.

Both lovers somehow managed to teeter in-between identities, synchronized to be able to enjoy and experience simultaneously. Naminé was reminded of the last tickle torture session she had experienced with Xemnas and the tentacles, but the difference this time was that she had an outlet for her laughter.

The endorphins running through the girls were given a sudden spike when the boys quickly stopped the assault and planted their lips over the girls', eliciting surprised, but welcome, moans of pleasure.

_"So soft..."_ Kairi thought as she melted in Sora's arms. When they finally broke apart, Kairi had reverted back to her complete self while Sora had done the same. She could feel her face radiating with warmth from both blushing and recovering from the tickles.

When she finally regained her voice, she asked "What brought that on?"

"You sounded like you needed some cheering up," Sora said, still grinning. "It's not like you to still be brooding when everyone we care about is alive and well."

"But what about-" Sora placed a finger on her lips.

"I'm not leaving you behind this time." Sora rolled off of Kairi and gently brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "I promise."

Kairi smiled a non-forced grin this time. "I'm sure you say that to all the girls," she giggled.

_"He probably does,"_ Naminé chimed in. Roxas couldn't help but laugh.

Kairi got to her feet and extended her hand out to Sora. "We'll go together."

Sora enthusiastically grabbed her outstretched hand and nodded. "Yeah!" As soon as he was upright, Kairi dragged him hurriedly toward the nearest railing and over the edge of the deck. Adrenaline pumped through their bodies as the two tumbled into freefall, plunging into the great void.

**"WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!"** As soon as the couple dropped far enough, the thoughts of being with each other filled their hearts and they began spiraling upward into the starry night sky. Looking back, they watched in awe as their honeymoon suite, Captain Hook's stolen pirate ship, sparkled with fairy dust in the soft moonlight. They hovered silently in one spot, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.

"Hey, Sora?"

"Yeah, Kairi?"

"There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now..."

"I love you, Kairi." Kairi's eyes widened at Sora's sudden confession.

"You dork! I was about to say that!" She smacked him playfully on the shoulder.

_"Well, there's nothing stopping you from saying it now,"_ Naminé said.

Kairi sighed. "Fine. Sora, I lo-"

"Get a room, you two!" Sora and Kairi jumped at the familiar voice. Riku was flying toward them with an amused expression on his face.

"Oh, come on!" Kairi glared at Riku. "Really, Riku?! Really?"

"What? I needed to ask-"

"I was about to...ERGH!"

Riku glanced at Kairi and then back at Sora. "Oh. You two were having a moment. Sorry about that." Awkwardly excusing himself, the silver-haired teen flew around the other side of the ship and out of sight.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Why's Riku here again? You know what, doesn't matter right now." She waited a few seconds to make sure there weren't any more sudden interruptions. Sora looked at her expectedly. "Sora, I-"

***RING***

The redhead's jaw dropped. "What."

"Sorry, that's my phone." Sora reached into his pocket and looked at it. "Oh, it's from the King. I wonder what he wants." Before Sora could pick up, in her unvanquished frustration, Kairi snagged the phone and chucked it back onto the ship.

"Damn it, Sora! I love you, okay?!" And then in a quieter tone, "I love you, Sora. With all my heart." Kairi leaned in and kissed her shining knight with all of the passion she had reserved for him.

When their lips broke apart again, Sora chuckled. "Hmm...I think I can get used to this."

"Congratulations, you've been promoted to make-out partner," Kairi teased, lightly tapping him on the nose.

"Wait, what was I before?" Kairi only giggled. Taking his hand in hers, she gave him an affectionate look.

"Ready, SIR Sora?"

"But, of course, PRINCESS Kairi!"

_"Shall we, SIR Roxas?"_

_"I'd be honored, PRINCESS Naminé."_ And with that, they tightly grasped each other's hand, sealing their hearts' connection eternally and soared through the night sky to wherever the force of destiny would lead them...

***TO BE CONTINUED IN KINGDOM HEARTS 3***

***...THE HACKED VERSION...***

***...OKAY, PROBABLY NOT...***


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